Question:
If you filed as head of household on your taxes but you are married and your spouse was claimed by his father and you have to amend your taxes. What does the outcome look like? Please respond seriously.
Answers:
If your spouse was legally claimed by his father, then you'd have to file as married filing separately. To have claimed head of household you'd have to have a dependent - I'm assuming that's a dependent child. Tax rates for married filing separately are a little higher than for head of household, so you'd almost surely owe some additional tax, plus interest and possible penalties, when you correct this mess by amending your original return. If you didn't have a large income, this probably won't be much extra.
Where it could get real expensive is if you claimed an earned income credit or child care expenses, since neither of these is available to someone married filing separately. If you got either or both of those, you'll have to pay back the entire amount, plus interest and possibly penalties.
An alternative would be for your father-in-law to file an amended return dropping his claim to his son, and for you and your husband to file an amended (joint) return. It would be a good idea if you all sat down and figured the costs both ways, and then decide how to proceed.
Good luck. The sooner you get this straightened out, the better, to avoid any more interest and penalties than you've already racked up.
what?
You need to IMMEDIATELY file a 1040X Amended Return. This might actually save you some money if you file jointly, but even if you have some late taxes and interest and penalty, its better than the taxes, interest, penalty and fines if the IRS discovers the error.
You'll want to inform the IRS as soon as possible, but depending on the dynamics of the living arrangements involved, yours may not be the return that needs to be amended.
If you're married and live with your spouse you CANNOT file as HoH. Nor can your spouse's father claim him or her as a dependent.
All of you need to file amended returns. You would be best off filing an amended return with your spouse as Married Filing Jointly as you'll normally pay the least tax that way. You may get a refund or you may have taxes due, depending upon the circumstances. In most cases, you would be looking at a refund but this isn't absolutely guaranteed.
Your FIL needs to file an amended return without claiming his son. He will have to pay taxes, penalties and interest. If he doesn't file an amended return, your amended return will trigger an audit of his return due to the improper exemption claim of his son.
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