In article <5f6800ea-119a-4d0a-91a3-3748348f1bc1[at]v23g2000pro.googlegroups.com> ,
David Chesler <chesler[at]post.harvard.edu> wrote:
- quote -

A personal exemption exists if the person was alive at any time during
the year.

Seth

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Harlan Lunsford wrote:
[...]
- quote -

Fortunately others answered with all of the reasons I would have stated.

Even without a deceased spouse situation, the secondary SSN can be
problematic. I saw a routine letter once from California state tax
authority to a wife who started working after many years out of the work
force, and also apparently off the income tax radar. They wanted to
know where her tax returns were for prior years! One of the check boxes
on the response form was "I filed jointly with my spouse in prior years".

-Mark Bole

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- quote -

This type of return will (should?) process just fine with the deceased
spouse's name listed first, however, I always recommend the return list the
surviving spouse's name first. The reason I recommend filing this way is
that in the case of elderly couples who have been married many years and
have typically been filing with the husband's name listed first, if an
entity was ever established on the IRS masterfile for the secondary spouse
(usually the wife), that entity would have dropped off the system many years
ago. Since the secondary spouse will be filing her future returns as a
single taxpayer, and sometimes even making estimated tax payments, listing
her name first on the final MFJ return will obviate future processing
problems that sometimes occur when her entity has dropped off the system or
even if still present contains an old address.


Condor

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"Mark Bole" wrote:

- quote -

I've always done that. It lessens the chance that the next year's ES
payments and return will be filed under the decedent's SSN. People have
been known to just use a voucher or slap on a label without looking at it.
Of course, this is somewhat a holdover from the days when the SSN's were on
the label. They don't call it Newton's first law for nothing.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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In article <5TbPj.41992$r76.29865[at]bignews8.bellsouth.net> ,
Harlan Lunsford <hnslunsford[at]bellsouth.net> wrote:
- quote -


If I had to make a complete guess, I'd say because the software will
pro forma much easier to next year. Maybe.
--


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

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Mark Bole wrote:
- quote -

Okay. why?

chEAr$,
Harlan

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D. Stussy wrote:

- quote -

That is strictly a nomenclature issue, most laypeople don't consider the
dead spouse to be doing much of anything. I catch myself sometimes when
I start to say to a client "you have to file an individual return for
the year you die", because of course they don't, even if someone else does.

While the distinction between personal exemption and spousal exemption
is completely arbitrary and up to the taxpayers involved, I have been
told by someone much more experienced than I, that it is a good idea,
for the final MFJ return in this situation, to put the surviving
spouse's name and SSN first on the return if previously in the second spot.


-Mark Bole

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"David Chesler" <chesler[at]post.harvard.edu> wrote in message
news:5f6800ea-119a-4d0a-91a3-3748348f1bc1[at]v23g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
- quote -

Yes, it is the same as if the spouse is still living. However, it's not
because the taxpayer is taking the spouse's exemption. The spouse is
claiming his/her own exemption.

- quote -

No. There is no exemption to claim.

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- quote -

The surviving spouse is filing a joint return with the deceased spouse, thus
two personal exemptions are claimed; one for the surviving spouse and a
second for the late spouse.


- quote -

No. A QW claims only his or her one personal exemption. However a QW gets
the benefits of the married filing joint tax rates for two years following
the year of his or her spouse's death.

Publication 559 is a good reference for information about decedents'
returns.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p559.pdf


Condor


========================================= MODERATOR'S COMMENT:
And notice that Form 1040 nows labels this filing status as:
Qualifying widow(er) with dependent child

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David Chesler wrote:
- quote -

You are correct. A MFJ return allows both a personal and spousal
exemption, regardless of whether the spouse is alive at the end of the year.

- quote -

No. No one takes an exemption for a person in any year after their year
of death. QW filing status is only a two year transition from MFJ to
Head of Household (HH). If there are no qualifying persons for HH,
there is no QW status (and the rules for qualifying person for QW are
slightly different than the rules for HH).

-Mark Bole

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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. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

I'm pretty sure a surviving spouse who is filing as Married Filing
Jointly for the tax year during which the deceased spouse dies takes
the deceased spouse's personal exemption, same as if the decedent were
still living. (Am I wrong?)

Does a Qualified Widow take a personal exemption for the deceased
spouse?

--
- David Chesler <chesler[at]post.harvard.eduFree Cory Maye

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