If your husband is meeting his child support obligation, then his ex won't be able to ask the courts to seize your tax refund. She will never be able to see your return. That said, you may wish to file a Married Filing Joint return and fill out the "Injured Spouse" interview to protect your share of the refund. (Instructions are below.)
Married Filing Jointly is usually better, even if one spouse had
little or no income. When you file a joint return, you and your spouse will
each receive the $4050 personal exemption, plus the married filing jointly
standard deduction of $12,700 (add $1250 for each spouse over the age of
65). You are eligible for more credits including education credits,
earned income credit, child and dependent care credit, and a larger income
limit to receive the child tax credit.
If you choose to file married filing separately, both spouses
have to file the same way—either you both itemize or you both use standard
deduction. Your tax rate will be higher than on a joint return. Some of the
special rules for filing separately include: you cannot deduct student loan
interest and ahigher percent of your
Social Security benefits may be taxable. In
many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit.
The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be affected. If you
live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional
information regarding your spouse’s income. ( Community property states:
AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI) If you are using online TurboTax to
prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay
twice. (If you choose to go with Married Filing Separate, I recommend purchasing the desktop download, as it will be cheaper and easier to do your returns.)
How to file the Injured Spouse Form
The injured spouse form and the innocent spouse form use the
same interview. You access the injured spouse interview by choosing
the Federal return Other Tax Situations tab and scrolling
down to Miscellaneous tax forms, Show more.
- When you start the interview
it will ask if you want to claim innocent or injured spouse relief.
Say Yes.
- The next page
references innocent spouse relief. Leave
the year boxes blank and click Continue.
- In Part I "Should you
file this form?" choose the following options:
To the first question, answer NO.
To the second question, answer YES
- Scroll
through the rest of the form leaving everything that is not pre-filled
BLANK. Then press Continue.
- You are now at the screen
"Let's See if You Qualify for Injured Spouse Relief." If
you live in a community property state, choose which one. If not,
select the box for "Somewhere else" and Continue.
- You are now in the injured
spouse interview. This is the section you wish to complete.
