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Got married October 31st. Name is changed. Husband filed his taxes as single. What do I file as?

When my husband filed, it didn't give him the option to switch to married. Because my last name is changed, turbo tax is freaking out when I picked single. If I click married but filing separately, it asks for my spouses info.
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6 Replies

Got married October 31st. Name is changed. Husband filed his taxes as single. What do I file as?

Oh my!  What a mess. He can’t file as single since he’s married. There is no reason why he can’t file as married jointly and you can use the name that you have on your social security card and file jointly with him on one return. He has to amend his return to file jointly with you. 

Got married October 31st. Name is changed. Husband filed his taxes as single. What do I file as?

He's not going to be happy about that. I wish he would've just waited till I got my W2s.  

Got married October 31st. Name is changed. Husband filed his taxes as single. What do I file as?


@Jerjer wrote:

He's not going to be happy about that. I wish he would've just waited till I got my W2s.  


Well, yes.  And the amend function is usually not available until March, and amended returns take much longer to process.

 

Your choice is that you must both file separate returns as "married filing separately" or you file one return as "married filing jointly."  Single is not allowed.  Filing MFS almost always results in paying more tax or getting a smaller refund since MFS has the highest tax rates and many deductions and credits are reduced or disallowed.  If you are going to file as MFS, you can do that at any time, and then he must amend from single to MFS when the amending function is available.  

 

Or, to file jointly, he can amend his single return to married and add your income, deductions and credits.  This was always available in the program and is not complicated, I'm not sure how he missed it.  

Got married October 31st. Name is changed. Husband filed his taxes as single. What do I file as?

This might be too late since he filed wrong.  Here's some general info on getting married.  Did you both use Turbo Tax last year?

 

You can not transfer from or combine 2 returns or accounts.  Just pick the return for the spouse that has the most complicated return to enter or has any depreciation or business or  more investments.  Or use the account for whoever you want to be listed first going forward (by the way you can not change the order of the names).  Then add the other spouse's name, ssn and info to it.

 

You should usually  file a Joint return which is only 1 return combined for the both of you.  Make sure to stick with this one account for the future.  Just ignore the other spouse's account.

 

Getting Married FAQ

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-filing-status/help/what-does-getting-married-mean-for-my-taxes...

 

And info on Getting Married…..

http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Getting-Married/INF12006.html

 

Is it better to file Joint or Separately?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separ...

Got married October 31st. Name is changed. Husband filed his taxes as single. What do I file as?

Im not going to let a stranger bash my husband. He inputted his information from his tax return, he was never given the choice to check the button married but filing separately.  Do I wish he would've waited for me to get my w2s before he filed? Yes. But that's beside the point. He made a mistake, but we're all human. If he said that he wasn't given that option, then he wasn't given that option. 

MarilynG1
Employee Tax Expert

Got married October 31st. Name is changed. Husband filed his taxes as single. What do I file as?

You could prepare a Married Filing Jointly return together and print and mail it in.  If you try to Efile, you'll be Rejected since your husband already Efiled a return with his SSN. If you choose this option, he can later Amend his originally filed return. 

 

Was his return Accepted?  If it is Rejected, then Efile a new return together as MFJ (best case scenario).

 

If his return was Accepted, you can Efile a MFS separately for yourself, or do the MFJ paper file.

 

Here's detailed info on Married Filing Jointly.

 

 

 

@Jerjer 

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