Should I amend married to single?

[johnluke132]

I got married in December of 2019. We are both Ca residents. I filed my taxes as married filing jointly. I did not enter my 1095a (I had Medicare for 7 months and never used it) and I got my own health insurance from my work. I thought nothing of it. I received a letter from the IRS requesting form 8962 and my 1095-a. I attempted to fill it out, and boy was it hard. I then went on turbo tax to see if if they could do it for me, but there is no way to differentiate that we had a combined income for only 1 month. I would have to pay 2000 dollars. When on the 8962 form, it’s possible to adjust for marriage time (somewhat). I then made an amendment to see what I would owe if I filed single. And did the 1095a and I would only owe 800 dollars. What should I do? Thanks for your thoughts. As I understand it, the IRS would not know that we are married or not. As we haven’t changed our names. 

[Bsch4477]

If you file single you are filing an inaccurate if not a fraudulent return. You can, however, file married, separately. 

[Bsch4477]

If you file single you are filing an inaccurate if not fraudulent return.  Unfortunately, once you have filed married, jointly you cannot amend to married separately. 

[DawnC]

Champ Bsch4477 is correct regarding your filing status options.  Since you were married as of December 31, 2019, your only two filing status options to choose from are - Married filing Separately or Married filing Jointly.   Filing Single is not a legal option for you or your spouse. 

However, you can amend your return before April 15, 2020, to make the change to Married filing separately.   Generally, you have 3 years to file an amended tax return, but this is not the case when changing from MFJ to MFS.  It has to be done by the filing deadline - April 15th of this year.   So, if you can save $1200 by changing your filing status, you should consider making the change. 

And you are also correct, you can't account for partial months of 'married' income on Form 8962.  For tax purposes and for purposes of reconciling your Premium Tax Credit (PTC), you are considered married all year.  There is no difference between getting married on January 1st or December 31 - in the eyes of the IRS anyway. 😉