Child support

[Kierrabgreen98]

My spouse owes back pay child support to her ex and the amount has shown up on her credit report. In order to not affect my tax return, should I file “married but separately?” Or should I file “married joint file?”

[sdammons · Accepted solution]

Hi! I would recommend that you choose the filing status that is most advantageous to you both. See Should You and Your Spouse File Taxes Jointly or Separately? 

It sounds like, however, that you are concerned about your refund being offset to pay your spouse's child support liability. If this is the case, you can consider filing an Injured Spouse Allocation which keeps your portion of the refund from being offset.

[KarenL4 · Accepted solution]

Hi.

I think you are asking if this could affect your refund.  You are correct if you believe that a federal tax refund may be offset for overdue child support .  If you do file jointly and funds are offset, you may file a claim as an injured spouse. You can get ahead of that by including form 8379 with your original return.

While Married Filing Separately status is open to you, using it may prevent you from getting certain tax benefits. This article does a great job of going through some pros and cons.

Please cheer below if you find this answer helpful. Best of luck to both of you.