Filing joint

[Tammyred69]

I have always filed joint with my husband head of house hold . But I never have gotten savings credit  he has disability and I have income  with 401k .  Can I do an amended tax return and put me as head of house hold and him as dependent so I can get savings tax credit ? 

[bluedeb · Accepted solution]

You can't file as Head of Household when you are married & living together.  You can file as Married Filing Joint, but not as HOH.

To qualify for the Head of Household filing status while married, you must: File your taxes separately from your spouse. Pay more than half of the household expenses. Not have lived with your spouse for the last 6 months of the year.

[Tammyred69]

I guess what I meant was I always put his name first and with me as dependent with doing that it is knocking me out  of my savings credit . So is there away to amend and do him as dependent and me first ? 

[bluedeb]

When you file as Married Filing Joint, your spouse is not a dependent.  You enter both of your & your spouses information but you do not choose a spouse as a dependent.

If that is what you did, you need to go back & remove you as a dependent.

It's not important whose name goes first on a joint return— at least not to the government — but what does matter is being consistent with each subsequent return you file. Changing the established name order isn't the end of the world, but it could result in processing delays for your taxes.

You can't change who's name is first on an account you have been filing as Joint in the program.  You would have to change each information under each name & that can get confusing & a pain.

[bluedeb]

To add:  If you checked the box that someone can claim you, you need to remove the check.  

[xmasbaby0]

@Tammyred69  You say your spouse gets disability.   It is not the order of your names that is keeping you from getting the savers credit.  That has nothing to do with it.  It might just be the total amount of your joint income.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/credits-and-deductions/help/what-is-the-saver-s-credit/00/25877