Am I at risk of an audit if I chose to file as an individual despite divorce paper work, which my ex-wife completed, suggesting filing jointly?

[Ryan-N-Ruiz]

The divorce became official as of November 10th, 2016.  My ex-wife was the one who originally filed for divorce and when filing she checked the box stating that for 2016 taxes we would be filing jointly. Her and I spoke and now both prefer to file as individuals. Is that ok, or must we do it the way the divorce paperwork shows? I just don't want to take any possible chance of getting penalized for such action in an audit.  Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you so much!!

[RichardG]

According to the IRS, "If you are divorced under a final decree by the last day of the year, you are considered unmarried for the whole year."  Regardless of what your divorce papers say, you cannot file a joint tax return with your ex-wife.  You can safely ignore the divorce paperwork.

[Ryan-N-Ruiz]

Thank you for that. Also I left out that this all occurred in the state of Arizona.  Does that have any effect on the situation?  Or is it the same for all of the United States?

[RichardG]

Not for your federal return.  Whether you can (or are obligated to) file a joint Arizona return, I cannot say.