My wife did not itemize deductions on her return but claimed the standard deduction. Can I now amend my return and claim the standard deduction?

[DoninGA]

If you are filing as Married Filing Separately and your spouse filed their return using the Standard Deduction then you have to file your tax return using the Standard Deduction.

[VolvoGirl]

Or she has to amend to Itemized.  And what state are you in?

And may I ask why you are filing separate returns?  Sometimes people don't realize the differences between filing  Joint and MFS.

Joint is almost always better.  Here's some things to consider about filing separately……

In the first place you each have to file a separate return, so that's two returns.  And if you are using the Online version that means using 2 accounts and paying the fees twice.  The Desktop CD/Download program would be better to use.

Many people think they come out better when filing Married Filing Separate but they are probably doing it wrong.  If one person itemizes deductions on Schedule A then the other one must itemize too, even if it's less than the standard deduction, even if it is ZERO!  And if you are in a Community Property state it can be complicated to figure out.

And there are several credits you can't take when filing separately, like the

EITC Earned Income Tax Credit

Child Care Credit

Educational Deductions and Credits

And contributions to IRA and ROTH IRA are limited when you file MFS.

Also if you file Married Filing Separately up to 85`% of your Social Security becomes taxable right away even with zero other income.

See …….

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/married/help/is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-...

[VolvoGirl]

Oh, is one of you filing Head of Household?  That can make a difference which deduction you have to take.

[faulklm]

Thanks for the response and insight. My wife is a small business owner operated under an S corp. She pays an accountant to file her taxes. It appears at this point that I am going to have her CPA amend my return to gain a refund of roughly $900. There is no option that I can find that will allow me to amend my return through Turbo Tax as this platform shows that she itemized her return but that is incorrect, she claimed the standard deduction. 

Thanks again,

Lee

[VolvoGirl]

Did she file as Married filing Separate?  Ask the CPA if you should amend one of the MFS returns to a Joint return.  Joint should be better.  

[faulklm]

We are in AZ. I itemized my return through TurboTax while my wife filed through her accountant (she is a business owner/S-corp). I am finding absolutely no way to amend my return through TurboTax as TT incorrectly is claiming that my spouse filed an itemized return when she in fact did not, she claimed the standard deduction.

At this point, I am going to her accountant file an amended return on my behalf to recover several hundred dollars that I overpaid.

Thanks,

Lee

[faulklm]

Yes, she filed as married filing separately. I will present that question. If I could only amend this through TurboTax, I could save $400.  

Lee

[rjs]

@faulklm 

Did YOU file as married filing separately? If so, here's how to tell TurboTax that your wife did not itemize. Go back to the Personal Info section. On the Personal Info Summary screen, click the Edit button next to your wife's name. The first screen will have her name and Social Security number. Click Continue. The next screen says "Select Any That Apply." The first box will be checked, which says that either your wife or you claim itemized deductions. Uncheck that box. You will then get the standard deduction.

[VolvoGirl]

When you amend in Turbo Tax you should be able to change that.  Go to My Info and go through your filing status and it should ask what deduction your spouse is taking.  Change it to Standard Deduction.  Then go take out your Itemized Deductions.  

[rjs]

The question about the spouse itemizing is not in the filing status section. It's in the section for the spouse's information.

If your itemized deductions are less than your standard deduction, which seems to be the case, you don't even have to remove them. As soon as you uncheck the box that says your wife itemized, TurboTax will ignore the itemized deductions and give you the standard deduction.

[Opus 17]

There is something very odd here.

Firstly, why did your wife file MFS?  Did her accountant advise her to file that way, and why?  Or did he file that way without asking?  If the accountant filed that way without asking, they should fix their mistake for free.

Note that there is nothing special about a personal tax return when you own an S-corp.  The S-copr must file a separate return, form 1120-S.  Every employee of the S-corp, including the owner, must get a W-2 for wages, and that is reported on a form 1040 personal return.  There's no automatic reason why your wife would need to file separately.  There are some possible reasons why that advice might be given, and you need to know why she filed that way.  Accident or on purpose, and why.

Second, did you also file MFS (married filing separately)?  And you itemized, which was lower and cost you some taxes?

Third, you should be able to amend your return from MFS itemized, to MFS standard deduction, with no trouble, I see you have already been given the instructions.

Fourth, however, it is the spouse who itemizes who controls.  This is often misunderstood.  If you filed MFS itemized, even if your itemized deductions are small, then your wife is forced to file itemized deductions.  The itemizing spouse controls.  If you do nothing, your wife will get a letter and tax assessment, not you.  If you amend to MFS standard deduction, and your wife claimed the standard deduction also, that will clear the conflict. But it will take 16-20 weeks to process the amended return, and your wife may still get an assessment in the mean time.  She can respond with a letter of explanation and include a copy of your amended return.

Fifth, and most important, if you decide to amend to file as married filing jointly, the spouse who files the amended return (converting MFS to MFJ) must include all the information for their spouse including income, deductions and credits.  Filing the amended MFJ return will automatically cancel both MFS returns.

Lastly, if you decide to amend to change from MFS to MFJ, it will probably be easier to have the accountant file an amended return for your wife to change your wife to MFJ and include your income and deduction information.  They should do that for free if it was their mistake to file separately.  However, as I said before, you need to understand why she filed MFS -- maybe there was a business or financial risk of filing jointly that you need to discuss.