Let me repeat your post, and make absolutely certain I am interpreting it correctly.
I purchased a home in October as my first home.
So you are the one and only owner of this home and the only one listed on the deed, meaning that you are the only one legally obligated to pay the property taxes. Furthermore, you are the only one named on the mortgage loan papers, meaning you are the only one legally obligated to pay that loan.
**Correct!
I got married in November and would like to understand which should be my primary domicile/home for 2019 taxes?
So with the above statement, I assume that your wife also owned her own home before you two got married, and that she continues to be the one and only owner of the home, and the one and only named on the mortgage for that home. Therefore, the same legal obligations apply to her for the home she owns, just as they apply to you for the home you own.
Finally, you both still own your own individual homes.
***Correct!
I applied for my home with mortgage company as primary residence, but didn't fully move in until December.
Now we're talking about the home *YOU* own. On what date did you close on the loan?
October 22, 2019
Where did you live before you moved into the house *you* purchased? (I suspect at your new wife's house that your wife still owns.) Maybe you were a renter? Maybe you lived with mom and dad?
My wife's home - I simply contributed to her and she paid her mortgage (shared bank account).
If I was taking you to court and you have to "PROVE" in a court of law on what day the home *you* purchased was occupied by you as your primary residence, what date would you be able to prove? That day may not necessarily be the day you actually moved in.
Some examples of proof would be:
-the date you updated your driver's license, if that license has an issue or reissue date on it.
-the issue date on your updated vehicle tag registration.
-the first utility bill received in your name at the new house, showing the start and end date of the billing cycle. (weak proof, but it shows you received your mail there on the issue date of the bill.)
-the postmark date of "any" mail received at your new house addressed to you.
-the reissue date of your voter's registration card.
-dated receipts from the moving company that moved all your belongings from your old residence, to your new residence.
The above are just a few examples I can think of off the top of my head. There very well could be more.
*** I changed both my license and vehicle registration in early November. I do have bills for the house (in my name only) going back to the same period such as electric, cable. My voter registration has never been changed unless its linked to drivers license and does so automatically.
We had lived at my wife's 90% of the year.
So your wife has converted the house she own's from personal use to residential rental real estate? If so, what is the earliest possible date a renter "could" have moved in? This is typically the date you put the FOR ENT sign in the front yard.
Also, on what date did a renter "actually" move in?
*** My wife's house is actually a double house (wall in middle divides the two areas) and is mostly used as a weekend AirBnB, until it was rented to a full-time renter in August 2019.
*** To make things a bit more complicated my wife has passed away in February 2020. I work from home so I was more or less spending most of my work days at my house. Both of our houses are in our own names and was never changed.
With the above questions answered, it will enable me to assist you with determining where on the tax return you will claim the property taxes and mortgage insurance you each paid on your respective properties.
Also for you, once we get that straight, make *SURE* that I cover insurance issues (or possible issues) on the property that is now a rental - which I assume is the property in your wife's name.
*** Thank you so much for helping provide insight. It's been a rough road.
Oh, and before I forget even though the "honeymoon stage" is practically over, congrats!
