Bees Knees

Apparently OldJack needs a refresher tax course, as he is going alittle TOO independent from established tax law. Might I suggest taking the H&R Block Basic Income Tax Course. I believe they cover filing status in the first week. Apparently I do need to stick around this message board for awhile to contribute some counter arguments to your crazy theories. Apparently you are the one who has been filing tax returns wrong for so many years. Why don’t you just admit you are wrong so we can move on? The code you cite applies to HOH filing status. A married individual WITH A CHILD may be treated as unmarried and file HOH rather than MFS or MFJ. It does not give abandoned spouses without children the right to file as Single rather than MFS. Get it?

Section 7703 which applies to married individuals living apart says the taxpayer must maintain “as his home a household which constitutes for more than one-half of the taxable year the principal place of abode of a child...” If there is no child living with the taxpayer, then that code section does not apply. If that code section does not apply, then a married individual living apart from his/her spouse cannot use that code section to file as unmarried.

I doubt it. I think he was serious. From the original post: Seems rather clear we are not talking about a couple who is "separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance." Yet OldJack seems to insist that doesn’t matter.

The taxpayer qualifies for the Married Filing Separate filing status. Thus your reference to the phrase: "and you do not qualify for another filing status" is not relevant. Pub 17, page 20: The phrase "you do not qualify for another filing status" is referring to a taxpayer who was unmarried or legally separated from his/her spouse. As such, Married Filing Joint and Married Filing Separate are not allowed. The other two options besides single are Head of Household or Qualifying Widow(er). Thus, if a single person cannot file as HOH or QW, then single is the only other option. Nothing in that implies that someone who can file as MFS has the option to elect to file as single.

Wrong. Considered Unmarried as described on page 21 of Pub 17 only applies for the Head of Household filing status. If you don't qualify for HOH (because there are no kids), then you have to follow the rules on page 19 of Pub 17 under Considered Married. Pub 17 says: Number 3 above fits the description of the original poster. Thus, you have to file MFS or MFJ. Single is not an option until you get divorced, or get a court ordered decree of divorce or separate maintenance.

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