Will my refund be garnished if my husband owes back child support; but I qualify for head of household & cover all of home expenses? Only his name & SSN on my return.

[280a9ed2328d]

No other information on him is on my return.

[xmasbaby0]

Did you live with your spouse for at least the last six months of 2023?  If so, you cannot file as Head of Household.   You can only file as HOH if you lived apart.  If you lived together you can file married filing separately or you can file married filing jointly and file an injured spouse form to protect part of the refund that can be attributed to your earnings.

Am I Head of Household?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894553-do-i-qualify-for-head-of-household

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2900097-what-is-a-qualifying-person-for-head-of-household

If you qualify as Head of Household, when you enter your marital status (single or married filing separately) into MyInfo, and then enter your qualifying dependent, TurboTax will offer HOH as your filing status.

INJURED SPOUSE

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1910698-how-do-i-file-form-8379-injured-spouse-allocation

To use Form 8379 to report Injured Spouse:  Go to

Federal>Other Tax Situations>Other Tax Forms

On Miscellaneous tax forms, click start or update for Report an Innocent or Injured Spouse

If you were legally married at the end of 2023 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately.

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 get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $27,700 (+$1500 for each spouse 65 or older)  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 get earned income credit, education credits, adoption credits, or deductions for student loan interest. A higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. Your limit for SALT (state and local taxes and sales tax) will be only $5000 per spouse. 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 since with online, you get one return per fee.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separ...

[Opus 17]

Head of household does not mean you are the financial or moral head of the family.  It is a special status for single parents who care for children, either because they are unmarried or because they have a long term separation from their spouse.

If you are separated from your spouse and correctly file as HOH, your tax refund is not subject to offset by your spouse's past debts.

However, if you are not separated, you can't file HOH.  Your options are to

a. file married filing jointly, and include an "injured spouse" form

b. file married filing separately.

 If you file as married filing separately, you report only your income, and your share of deductions and credits.  Your tax refund is not subject to offset by your spouse's debts.  If you file jointly, you list all your combined income and deductions on one tax return and you take joint responsibility for the taxes.  Joint filing usually has lower taxes because some deductions and credits are limited when filing separately, but your joint refund is subject to offset.  If the debts are from before your marriage, you can include an injured spouse form to request the IRS to consider your share of the refund as separate from your spouse's debt.  But if the debts are from during the marriage, you are stuck paying them if you file jointly.