@Steve40th396 wrote:
I filed MFS and he put single on her 1040. Is that why hers was rejected. Should she just change it to MFS, and re send it?
If she is legally married, she must file as MFS, unless she provides care in her home for a qualifying person, usually a child dependent, which would allow her to file as head of household.
You of course, always have the option of filing jointly, if you agree to do so, but that may not be practical in your situation. Also, signing a joint return makes you equally liable for all your spouse's tax information and problems, if any come up in the future.
There is a provision that says if a person is "considered unmarried" under state law, they can file as single. This is a complicated discussion, and I have never actually seen a situation in which the IRS ruled in favor of a married but separated person and allowed them to file as single. If your wife's CPA thinks she can be "considered unmarried", she can file as single, but your wife should make sure that CPA will stand behind her if audited, and will cover any penalties if she loses.
The rules for itemizing are quoted above. Essentially, if spouse A itemizes, they control the situation and spouse B must also itemize even if they don't want to. Spouse B can't force spouse A to use the standard deduction.
I don't know why your spouse's CPA is giving the advice they are giving. Your spouse might want a second opinion.
Or, just stay out of it. If your spouse has hired a CPA, they are capable of taking their advice or ignoring it, and a responsible CPA will have professional errors and omissions insurance to cover any mistakes they make. It probably should be none of your business at this point. When filing MFS, you list your income and deductions and have no responsibility for your spouse's income and deductions, so why get involved at all?
