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I filed married filing jointly but the IRS sent a letter back saying I can't file like that and collect alimony. Now I owe money?
I filed taxes for my deceased husband who I was divorcing and he was paying me alimony so I deducted that. but filed married filing jointly but the IRS sent a letter back saying I can't file like that and collect alimony. Now I owe money
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I filed married filing jointly but the IRS sent a letter back saying I can't file like that and collect alimony. Now I owe money?
Taking your question exactly as written, you were in the process of filing for divorce from your husband but he died before the divorce was final. You filed a married filing joint return (which is allowed in that situation). Your husband was making support payments to you, either voluntary or as part of a court ordered separation pending divorce.
In that case, you can't deduct his alimony payments to you as a deduction on your joint tax return. You also don't report his alimony payments as income. You simply ignore them. You would also ignore child support payments.
If you deducted alimony your spouse paid but did not report it as your income, then you owe the tax the IRS has assessed.
If you deducted alimony your spouse paid AND reported the alimony as your income, then the IRS has identified one mistake but not the other. You may owe less tax than the IRS assessed, and you may even owe no tax at all. But you will need to prepare an amended return to remove the alimony both ways, calculate any tax owed, and send the amended return and a letter of explanation to the IRS at the address given in their letter to you.
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I filed married filing jointly but the IRS sent a letter back saying I can't file like that and collect alimony. Now I owe money?
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I filed married filing jointly but the IRS sent a letter back saying I can't file like that and collect alimony. Now I owe money?
For one person to deduct alimony the other person must report it as income on their return ... so if you filed a joint return with the person who is "paying" you the alimony then the deduction & income would zero each other out ... so no alimony deduction or income is allowed on the joint return for obvious reasons.
In this case the IRS is correct so pay up.
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I filed married filing jointly but the IRS sent a letter back saying I can't file like that and collect alimony. Now I owe money?
Child support is not deductible by the person who pays it. Child support is not reportable by the person who receives it.
Alimony *is* deductible by the person who pays it and they don't pay taxes on it. Likewise, that means alimony is reportable and taxable to the person who receives it. So if you did not report your alimony received on your tax return, that makes you in error here. You have to report all alimony received and you will pay taxes on that money.
In some states, the fact that you are married to someone else (not the person paying the alimony) is irrelevant. However, in all cases I'm aware of, when the recipient of alimony remarries, the alimony stops.
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I filed married filing jointly but the IRS sent a letter back saying I can't file like that and collect alimony. Now I owe money?
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I filed married filing jointly but the IRS sent a letter back saying I can't file like that and collect alimony. Now I owe money?
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I filed married filing jointly but the IRS sent a letter back saying I can't file like that and collect alimony. Now I owe money?
Taking your question exactly as written, you were in the process of filing for divorce from your husband but he died before the divorce was final. You filed a married filing joint return (which is allowed in that situation). Your husband was making support payments to you, either voluntary or as part of a court ordered separation pending divorce.
In that case, you can't deduct his alimony payments to you as a deduction on your joint tax return. You also don't report his alimony payments as income. You simply ignore them. You would also ignore child support payments.
If you deducted alimony your spouse paid but did not report it as your income, then you owe the tax the IRS has assessed.
If you deducted alimony your spouse paid AND reported the alimony as your income, then the IRS has identified one mistake but not the other. You may owe less tax than the IRS assessed, and you may even owe no tax at all. But you will need to prepare an amended return to remove the alimony both ways, calculate any tax owed, and send the amended return and a letter of explanation to the IRS at the address given in their letter to you.
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