Finance Tax Time

It may not be high on the list of wedding planning activities, but there are a few simple steps that can help keep tax issues from interrupting your newly wedded bliss. If you recently married, check out your new tax situation. You might save money or even prevent the problem of a missing refund check.

The first things to handle are changes of name and address. Later, as tax season approaches, consider whether or not you’ll itemize deductions, which tax return form is right for you and what filing status you’ll use.

No one should delay the cake cutting or honeymoon because of taxes. But here are some helpful hints for later:

Use Your Correct Name

You must provide correct names and identification numbers to claim personal exemptions on your tax return. If you changed your name upon marrying, let the Social Security Administration know and update your Social Security card so the number matches your new name. Use Form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card.

Change of Address

If you or your spouse has a new address, notify the U.S. Postal Service so that it will be able to forward any tax refunds or IRS correspondence. The Postal Service will also pass your new address on to IRS for updating. You may also notify to notify the IRS directly by filing Form 8822.

Refund Checks

Each year, the Postal Service returns thousands of tax refund checks as undeliverable, usually because the addressee has moved. Notifying both the Postal Service and the IRS of an address change in a timely manner can help ensure the proper delivery of any refund checks. To check the status of a tax refund, go to the IRS web site and use the “Where’s My Refund?” service.

Changing Filing Status

Your marital status on December 31 determines whether you are considered married for that year. Married persons may file their federal income tax return either jointly or separately in any given year. Choosing the right filing status may save you money.

A joint return (Married Filing Jointly) allows spouses to combine their income and to deduct combined deductions and expenses on a single tax return. Both spouses must sign the return and both are held responsible for the contents.

With separate returns (Married Filing Separately), each spouse signs, files and is responsible for his or her own tax return. Each is taxed on his or her own income, and can take only his or her individual deductions and credits. If one spouse itemizes deductions, the other must also.

Which filing status should you select? It depends entirely on your specific situation. You should consider sitting down with a tax professional to make a determination.

Richard A. Chapo is with http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com - recovery of business taxes through tax help and tax relief. Visit http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articles to read more business tax articles.

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They say the world works on a concept known as balance. To counterbalance the joys of your honeymoon, you get the misery of filing a joint tax return with your spouse.

If you have recently married, you are hopefully living a blissful life of humor and happiness. The birds are singing, everyday is sunny and so on. Alas, there is one event each year that brings the joy of newlyweds to a screeching halt. That event occurs when you must sit down and file a joint tax return. Somewhere, a divorce attorney is smiling.

Before you and the spouse start shouting at each other, it probably makes sense to figure out how you will file. Essentially, you have two choices. The first is known as married filing jointly and it usually the best way to go. The second is married filing separately and often results in higher taxes being paid. Yes, this all takes into account the “marriage penalty” for taxes. The media has the problems backwards.

There is, however, one instance when going with married filing separately may definitely make sense. The situation occurs where there is a serious imbalance in the earnings of each spouse, to wit, one is making a lot more than the other. Mentioning the issue alone can be a test on a relationship, but taxes are all about saving money. Essentially, the situation boils down to deductions. If you itemize, but lose deductions under the joint filing, it is time to file separately. The only way to tell [groan] is to actually prepare the tax returns for each situation. Hey, nobody said taxes were fun.

If you really want to tackle a tough issue, there is one other time when you should definitely file separately. Since you can’t slap me through the computer, I can tell you it is when your marriage is on the rocks. The reason has to do with joint liability. You and your spouse are jointly liable for all taxes you owe the government. If one of you does not pay, the IRS will look to either of you to get its money. When marriages go bad, the failure to pay taxes is often used by a disgruntled spouse for revenge. While filing separately makes logical sense, marriage problems are not logical. Give a lot of thought to the process before bringing this issue up.

In general, filing jointly is the way to go in most marriages. There are instances that call for filing separately, just be very careful about how you approach them!

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