- quote -

Based on the information provided, they do not qualify to
file as HOH as they are not "considered unmarried".

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Mark Bole <makbo[at]pacbell.net> wrote:

[snip]

- quote -

They live in New York.

[snip]

Thanks to everyone for your answers. I guess this will
remain one of those mysteries of life :-)

--
Vic Roberts
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- quote -

Right - that's why I said HoH.

Don

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"Don Priebe" <priebe[at]iname.com> wrote:

[snip]

- quote -

No children living with them as far as I know. I believe
all their children are adults and out on their own.

--
Vic Roberts
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Don Priebe" <priebe[at]iname.com> wrote:

- quote -

EIC is not permitted on a filing status of MFS.

-Crystal

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"Don Priebe" <pri...[at]iname.com> wrote:

- quote -

Sorry, no EIC if you file MFS.

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Victor Roberts <x...[at]lighting-research.com> wrote:

- quote -

There is no such thing.

Don Priebe has already mentioned the most likely
possibility. A married person who has at least one dependent
child can qualify for head of household filing status if
he/she has lived apart from his/her spouse the last 6 months
of the year. However, if that is what they are doing and if
the couple are getting together for conjugal relations the
IRS is going to argue, on audit, that they weren't really
living apart. Then the IRS will change their filing statuses
to married filing separate return and they wil owe more than
$7,000 in back taxes plus penalties and interest.

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Victor Roberts wrote:

- quote -

No. Even if MFJ, they can deduct mortgage interest on up to
two residences and real estate taxes on all property, if
they have enough total deductions to itemize. But you said
they were *living* separately, you didn't say whether or not
they were *filing* separately. Spouses do not have to live
under the same roof in order to file jointly.

The exact number of $7K sounds a little suspect, and quite
large, as the amount of a federal credit. What state do
they live in? For example, in California there is a $7,000
homestead exemption which lowers the annual property tax
bill by roughly $70/year, maybe they got two of these
instead of just one. However the second $70/year savings
would hardly offset the ongoing expenses of home ownership
for a second home.

From a pure financial point of view (all costs including
federal income taxes), they probably would have been much
further ahead by sharing housing costs under one roof and
either selling or renting the second residence. The saying
"two can live more cheaply than one" only applies if they
live together.

-Mark Bole

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Kamlet[at]panix.com (Arthur Kamlet) wrote:

[snip]

- quote -

[snip]

Thanks for the info, but I was asking about a tax deduction
specifically tied to two residences for married people each
owning their own homes.

--
Vic Roberts
Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

"Victor Roberts" <xxx[at]lighting-research.com> wrote:

- quote -

I'll write it off to head over heels love that makes them so
silly. Don't disturb them with the fact that that $7,000
probably cost them at least $20,000, perhaps more if they'd
had the sense to rent one of them out.

- quote -

You're right except for the part about a vacation home.
You're allowed to deduct property taxes regardless of the
number of homes and mortgage interest on two. Filing status
doesn't matter, although both have to use the same deduction
method (itemized/standard) if they file separately.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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- quote -

It's not the mortgage or RE taxes - you can deduct interest
on two houses and taxes on an unlimited number of
properties.

Are any children involved? Maybe they are both filing HoH
with EIC, the same as they did before they were married.
That could easily be $7,000 better than MFJ.

--
Don EA in Upstate NY

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Victor Roberts <xxx[at]lighting-research.com> wrote:

- quote -

As an Ohio tax preparer, I get to prepare many many MFS
returns in order to save on tax.

Most of the savings are from the Oio incometax returns, but
there are certainly situations where MFS saves on the
federal return. A few quick examples that come to mind:

1) Any of the AGI limiting deductions are not so limited
when lowering AGI by filing MFS. These include Sch A
Medical, Miscllaneous and casualty loss.

2) To a degree, the amount of Social security that is taxed
can be reduced when filing MFS and not living together.

3. Couples claiming child tax credit could be above the
child tax credit cutoff but at least one could come in under
when filing MFS.

4. Is the $1million of principal for mortgage interest cut
in half when filing MFS? I don't remember. If not, then
an advantage here.

--
ArtKamlet at a o l dot c o m Columbus OH K2PZH

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My wife and I had dinner last Friday with a couple who
married after living alone in their own houses. They lived
only a few houses from each other and said it took over a
year to find a new house they both liked. During that time
they continued to live in their own homes and "commuted"
each day from one house to the other.

They said that this arrangement of having separate
residences gave them a $7000 Federal tax credit, which they
seemed to think was some benefit built into the system,
perhaps for separated couples.

I've never heard of any such deduction and am assuming that
they got a benefit from being allowed to deduct the mortgage
interest payments and real estate taxes for two primary
residences, something I assume they could not have done to
that extent if one was a vacation home and the other was
their primary residence.

Is this a correct understanding? If so, does the ability to
claim a deduction for interest and taxes for both residences
depend upon whether the couple filed MFJ, or MFS?

--
Vic Roberts
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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >