@MattC747 , I think that this post will answer your question more accurately: Re: I was divorced in 2024 in a community prprty state I need to claim half my exs income and he ... In this case, the first answer was correct based on the original question. The OP then clarified that their divorce decree required income splitting for part of 2024, which means that the terms of the decree must be followed first. HOWEVER, it does NOT mean that the parties are Married Filing Separately! They (and you) will file according to their marital status on December 31. For you, that means Head of Household. This is true even if a divorce is legally final before midnight on December 31!
If your divorce decree does not specifically call for splitting income, you will report only your separate wage income and withholding for all of 2024 unless there is some kind of law in Texas requiring an allocation when the decree is silent. So I guess I should ask how you came to the "understanding" that you each had to allocate 50% of your wages and withholding between yourselves? If you figured it was logical, that's understandable - but in this case, pure mathematical logic was not taken into account when this piece of tax code was written - I would say that it's based more on practicality - so that ex-spouses are not required to communicate about their taxes months after the divorce is final.
JanA, CPA (retired)
