George and Debbie were legally married on December 31 2017. can they file their 2017 income...

George and Debbie were legally married on December 31 2017. can they file their 2017 income tax return using the status of married filing jointly? Why or why not? what other filing status choices do they have, if any?

Expert Solution

As per the applicable provisions, Goerge and Debbie can file 2017 income tax return using the status of married filing jointly only if they were married on the last day of the year i.e. on December 31, 2017.

As per the provisions, they would be considered to be married for the whole year if they were married on the last day.

On the contrary, they would be considered to be unmarried for the whole year if they were unmarried, divorced or legally separated ( as per the state law ).

Also, both of them must agree to file a joint income tax return.

So,in the given case, since Goerge and Debbie were legally married on December 31, 2017, they can file their 2017 Income tax return using the status of married filing jointly.

Other filing choices -

They can choose not to file joint income tax return and instead file their Individual infome tax return separately.

This option of separate return filing could be advantageous if both spouses work and their income and deductions are large and very unequal.

However, rhe couple should analyse both options and figure out which option ( i.e. joint filing or separate filing ) is beneficial to them ( i.e. which provides the lowest tax liability ).

ekkarill92 answered 2 years ago

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