Married filing seperately

[jsschristy213-gm]

My ex's taxes were rejected last year and apparently he hasn't had a chance to fix it yet. Would he still have an AGI for me to use? Or do I just put zero because he didn't technically file last year

[VolvoGirl]

Why do you need his AGI?  If you file MFS you just enter your 2020 AGI.  If he is your ex and you got divorced last year you file as Single or Head of Household if you qualify, not MFS.

[jsschristy213-gm]

Not divorced yet... Sorry for confusion. It is asking for his 

[Opus 17]

The NYS household credit is a maximum of $75 and your combined income must be less than $32,000.  If your income is more than that, you aren't eligible no matter what you enter for your spouse.  If your income is less than that but you know that your combined incomes will be more than $32,000, you can enter any amount that will make your combined income more than $32,000 so you don't claim the credit.  If you think that you and your spouse combined make less than $32,000, you have a problem; if you enter zero, or guess too low, you will get too much credit and will probably have to pay it back once your spouse files their tax returns and NY gets around to comparing them.   If you guess too high, you may be giving up a few dollars of the credit.  I can't suggest an amount you should claim in that situation. 

[jsschristy213-gm]

So if he didn't file then am I just screwed? I'm not really understanding. I assume that it was just for some kind of verification thing. It doesn't really have anything to do with this year's actual taxes because it's last year's taxes AGI, right?

[Opus 17]

---

@jsschristy213-gm wrote:

So if he didn't file then am I just screwed? I'm not really understanding. I assume that it was just for some kind of verification thing. It doesn't really have anything to do with this year's actual taxes because it's last year's taxes AGI, right?

---

The screen you showed me is for the NY household credit, and it wants his 2021 AGI, not his 2020 AGI.  You can guess, but if you guess wrong, you might be claiming too much or too little, and NY may send you a correction if any when he files.  But the credit is a max of $90, so that's the largest any discrepancy could be, and it will probably be less.  (For example, if your income is $20,000 and his income is zero and you have 2 dependents,  your credit is $35.  If his income is also $20,000, you get no credit so the payback would only be $35.

Also, you can't claim the credit unless you have dependents.  If you have dependents, you might be able to file as head of household instead of single, unless you separated too late in the year. 

You will not be asked for his 2020 AGI as verification when you e-file.  If you filed jointly in 2020, that's the AGI you will verify with, and if you filed MFS in 2020, you only need your own AGI to verify.  

[jsschristy213-gm]

I thought weren't giving an AGI until after you file your taxes. Like there's no AGI listed anywhere on your w-2s, and to my knowledge you don't calculate it yourself. I am so confused. I don't know my AGI from this year to give him but I know my AGI from last year. And I did read that filing using paper you don't need your partner's AGI at all so I might just print it and mail it in separate. It's just a TurboTax thing or whatever.

[DoninGA]

@jsschristy213-gm It is an IRS requirement to provide the prior tax year AGI to e-file a current tax year federal tax return.

The 2020 AGI is on the 2020 Federal tax return Form 1040 Line 11

[jsschristy213-gm]

I understand where to find it. But he did not file in 2021. He tried to and it was not accepted and has been messing with it ever since last year.

[VolvoGirl]

Your current 2021 AGI is on 1040 line 11.  Before filing,  You can preview the 1040 or print the whole return

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/accessing/help/how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-f...

Find the current year AGI

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/agi/help/where-can-i-find-my-current-year-agi/00/26310

You need your 2020 AGI on the 1040 line 11 to efile 2021.  How to find last year's AGI

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/agi/help/how-do-i-find-last-year-s-agi/00/25947

[DoninGA]

---

@jsschristy213-gm wrote:

I understand where to find it. But he did not file in 2021. He tried to and it was not accepted and has been messing with it ever since last year.

---

If a 2020 federal tax return for him was never processed by the IRS then his 2020 AGI is 0 (zero)

[VolvoGirl]

If his 2020 return rejected last year in 2021 he will have to print and mail it now.  Does he need to fix it it before mailing?   Then to efile his 2021 return now he needs to enter 0 for the 2020 AGI.

Now what about your return?   What do you need?   Did you file your own 2020 return or try to file Joint on his rejected return?  Then are you still married or divorced?

[jsschristy213-gm]

I just needed his AGI to finish submitting my taxes. We filed married but separate last year, and I had no issues filing my taxes. We were together the previous year (2019) still and filed together so I had the ago from that year.

[Opus 17]

@jsschristy213-gm 

The picture you posted is the section for the New York State household credit, and it is asking for his 2021 AGI to determine how much credit you are eligible for. You did not post a picture of the verification page for e-filing. Are you clear on what you asking about?

Sometimes when you file as married filing separately, the income of the other spouse can affect your eligibility for certain tax credits and deductions. This is one of those cases.

If you are only asking about verification for e-filing, you’ve posted the wrong picture. You don’t need your spouse’ SAGI, only your own.

[jsschristy213-gm]

No I am not clear on anything. This is just what popped up when I went to review and file as something that needed to be fixed. I saw AGI and assumed it was for last years because I have never been asked for this year's AGI ever. I have always filed using turbo tax and this year is being extra difficult it seems.