Tax Office Marriages " I now pronounce you man and wife."

There are occasions when taxpayers in common-law marriage states, such as Texas, file Married Filing Jointly with live- in mates.

If you live in a common law state and file a joint tax return with your live in lover, you are are now married, whether you go throught the official proceeding or not. This will make it more may be difficult to walk away if you break up .You may have to seek a formal divorce and your former lover could possibly have rights to some of your assets. 

Legally, once a common law marriage has been established, there is no difference between a common law marriage and a ceremonial marriage.

Before you make an instant decision in a tax office that could change your life forever, ponder if you want to be married to this person and want them to have legal right to your assets

If you marry in the tax office, your  significant other may want a ring with your tax refund.

Places where common- law marriages can still be contracted: 9 states(Alabama, Colorado, Kansas, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Iowa, Montana, Utah and Texas) and the District of Columbia.

* Note: If you live in a common law state and  you and your live in lover introduce yourselves  as husband and wife, then you may legally be obligated to file tax return as married. You may be in violation of  IRS regulations if you file single or head of household after presenting yourself to be married.


Tax Charm blog is not legal or professional advice.

You are reading Tax Charm blog at your own free will and you are taking the information provided at your own risk.

I am the legal copy righter of this blog, you may not use, reprint or publish information from this blog without my permission.

Help! The IRS took our tax refund for my spouse's past due child support.

This is a common situation that is seen frequently in tax offices all across America.  Either, the spouse is  afraid to file with their significant other due to fear of refund being applied towards past due debt  or the spouses file together and neither  one gets any of the tax refund.

Most people tried to avoid this by filing Married Filing Separately. This is not  a good alternative.  Married Filing Separately  disallows you from claiming any tax credits. Tax Credits you may be missing out on are Earned Income Credit, Child Tax Credit, Education Credit, Child Care Credit, and Retirement Savings Contribution Credit.

Instead of robbing yourself of free money, you can file Married Filing Jointly then submit an Injured Spouse Allocation form. This way you can help pay off some of your spouse's debt and get your portion of the refund back from the IRS.

You may be entitled to injured spouse relief if you file a joint return and all or part of your refund is applied against your spouses’ past-due federal tax, state income tax, child or spousal support or federal nontax debt, such as a student loan.

 For the IRS to consider you an injured spouse, you must have made and reported tax payments, such as federal income tax withheld from wages or estimated tax payments, or claimed a refundable tax credit, and not be legally obligated to pay the past-due amount.

Please keep in mind that you are not entitled to Injured Spouse Relief if the amount owed is due to debt you are responsible for. It has to be only your spouse's debt.

Tax Charm blog is not legal or professional advice.

You are reading Tax Charm blog at your own free will and you are taking the information provided at your own risk.

I am the legal copy righter of this blog, you may not use, reprint or publish information from this blog without my permission.