My late wife passed away in 2018, and I read that I can file as married filing jointly with her for 2 years after her passing. I re-married in 2019, however, my current wife and I are not going to file jointly. Since I am still within the two years of my late wife's passing, can I still file my return as married filing jointly with my late wife's information for 2019 and 2020?
Thanks for your assistance.
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No. You are now married. You file with your new wife or separately. Joint is usually the best way to file. And if you weren't remarried you can only file a Joint return if you have a qualifying child.
And may I ask why you are filing separate returns? Sometimes people don't realize the differences between filing Joint and MFS.
Unless you have a specific reason to file separate returns,
It is usually better to file Joint. Joint has the lowest tax rates and the highest Standard Deduction. And if you are in a Community Property state MFS gets tricky to figure out. Here's some things to consider about filing separately……
In the first place you each have to file a separate return, so that's two returns. And if you are using the Online version that means using 2 accounts and paying the fees twice.
Many people think they come out better when filing Married Filing Separate but they are probably doing it wrong. If one person itemizes deductions then the other one must itemize too, even if it's less than the standard deduction, even if it is ZERO!
And there are several credits you can't take when filing separately, like the
EITC Earned Income Tax Credit
Child Care Credit
Educational Deductions and Credits
And contributions to IRA and ROTH IRA are limited when you file MFS.
Also if you file Married Filing Separately up to 85`% of your Social Security becomes taxable right away even with zero other income.
See …….
Here's an article on Qualifying Widower. See
You misunderstood something that you read, or mixed up two different rules.
You can file jointly with your late wife only for the year of her passing, 2018. For the two years after that (2019 and 2020), if you do not remarry, and if you have a dependent child, you can file as qualifying widower. If you do not have a dependent child, and you have not remarried, you have to file as single (or possibly head of household if you meet the requirements).
But since you did remarry, your only choices for filing status are married filing jointly with your new wife, or married filing separately. VolvoGirl has outlined some of the disadvantages of filing as married filing separately. Those disadvantages apply to both you and your wife, who would also have to file separately. Unless you have a very strong reason for filing that way, and have evaluated how much it will cost you, you and you wife should seriously consider filing jointly.
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