Numerous factors impact your taxes, and a divorce may be one of them. For this reason, Roberts Means Roncevic Kapela LLC is here to help you determine how your divorce may affect your filing status.
Divorce & Independent Filing Status
As you already know, a tax year aligns with its calendar year, which means January 1st through December 31st is a single tax year. Interestingly, the day of December 31st is the only date that matters regarding divorce and filing status.
If a court finalized your divorce before December 31st of last year, you must file independently. Therefore, even if you are legally married until December 29th, a finalized divorce on December 30th would force you and your spouse to file independently for the entire tax year.
Divorce & Head of Household Filing Status
If you and your spouse divorced before December 31st, one of you may be eligible for head of household status.
You are eligible for head of household status if:
- You are responsible for more than half of the support of your dependents; and
- You are responsible for more than half of the household expenses of your dependents.
Divorce & Joint Filing Status
If you and your spouse’s divorce is finalized after December 31st, you must file your taxes as married filing jointly or married filing separately. Therefore, you and your spouse could save money by filing jointly, but that’s only reasonable if you’re on good terms.
A finalized divorce after December 31st but before April 15th will not impact your joint filing status.
HZ Law Is Here for You!
If you are worried about divorce and taxes, our firm can help you make the best choice for you. Our compassionate divorce attorneys help you fight for what you need to thrive during and after your divorce.
Call (317) 569-2200 now to set up a consultation today!