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Yes, because his spouse is itemizing and he is filing MFS, he must itemize. Anyway, itemizing is the better choice since the code says his standard deduction is zero.

My personal, strong, preference is always to take the refund, even if the client then takes the funds and sends them right back in an estimated payment. I like to keep the years separate. That way, any unforeseen circumstance (the IRS sends a cp2000 letter about a form you never got, for instance) does not instantaneously mess up TWO years' worth of returns. The first by the mis-match or other problem, the second by the funds you had counted on carrying forward NOT so doing - so now the rest of the year's estimated payments are mucked up. My business partner is learning this the hard way, with an elderly client who failed to give us some papers for 2017. The IRS took the carry-forward amount to apply to the prior year, and now this elderly lady is all confused about what *he* did wrong, that the rest of her estimated payments had to go up so much.

Thanks Max. Another valid point. If it came to that, I'd seriously rather pay the $72 out of my own pocket than to burn off a lot of time trying to chase down a misapplied $6,000 refund.

JohnH, I like your last suggestion. It takes the uncertainty out of the other ways of handling this, which could lead to delays and complications. Even if the Jan 15 payment is late the penalty, since it is the last qtr, is only going to be 1.2% ($72).

Thanks for the additional responses Judy & grandmabee. I'm still pondering how to handle this, given the amount involved. It's now clearly a matter of switching names IF we request that the overpayment be applied to 2018. But if I switch names and they STILL don't apply the $6,000 correctly, the client is going to be asking me every other day if I've corrected it yet. (Good client, but I know how they react when things don't go according to plan.) On the other hand, if we file as usual and claim a refund, it's just a matter of IRS processing the return normally, sending a refund, the client cashing the check, and then making the Jan 15, 2020 payment on time. This more-or-less takes it out of my hands and puts the responsibility back on the client (and IRS). If there's a delay, It isn't due to anything I did or did not do.

I have had this same situation and never ran into a problem with the e-file. Just put the info in the way it should be.

they can both e-file the returns.

Drake has a place on the Dependents screen where you can check that the person is NOT a dependent, but rather a HOH (or other) qualifier. So they don't get used as a dependent but do get used to qualify for status or credits. I would think you would still be able to e-file that return. Now you have me confused about Drake!

But, the child will NOT be a Dependent on two returns.