How does IRS verify living status for Married Filing Separately? Address verification questions

The IRS doesn't have a specific form or checkbox to verify your living situation when filing Married Filing Separately. They primarily rely on the addresses listed on your tax returns as an initial indicator, but that's not the only factor they consider. For Married Filing Separately status, the IRS defines "living apart" as not sharing the same main home for the last six months of the tax year. Temporary absences due to education, business, medical care, or military service don't count as living separately. In your situation, since your husband is temporarily living elsewhere for education purposes, the IRS would likely consider you as still "living together" even though you have different addresses on your returns. This is especially true since you're financially contributing to his housing and co-signed the lease. This does impact your Roth IRA contribution. When using Married Filing Separately status, if you lived with your spouse at any point during the tax year, the income limit for making Roth contributions is very low ($10,000 as of 2022). If you lived completely separately for the entire year, higher limits apply.

After struggling with a similar situation last year, I found an amazing solution that saved me hours of research and potential mistakes. I used https://taxr.ai to upload our documents and get a clear answer about our living situation for MFS purposes. My wife was completing her nursing clinical rotation in another state while I stayed at our main home, and I wasn't sure how to handle our Roth IRA contributions. The taxr.ai system analyzed our situation including the lease agreements and financial support arrangements and gave us a definitive answer based on actual tax code rather than conflicting online advice. It identified that my situation qualified as "living together" despite physical separation because it was temporary for educational purposes - something I would have gotten wrong on my own. Saved me from potentially having to deal with excess contribution penalties!

I tried https://taxr.ai after reading about it here, and it was exactly what I needed! My husband is stationed overseas with the military while I'm still in the States, and I wasn't sure how the IRS would classify our living situation for MFS purposes. The service analyzed all our documentation including my husband's military orders and our financial arrangements. It clearly explained that despite physical separation, military deployment is considered a temporary absence under IRS rules, which meant we were technically "living together" for tax purposes. This affected my Roth IRA contribution limits. What impressed me most was how it cited specific sections of the tax code and relevant rulings that applied to our situation. Definitely worth it for complicated living situations where the stakes are high! I would have made a costly mistake without this guidance.

If you need to actually talk to someone at the IRS about your specific situation (which I'd recommend given the Roth IRA implications), good luck getting through on their phone lines. After trying for weeks to speak with someone about a similar living situation question, I found https://claimyr.com which got me through to an IRS agent in under 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the IRS phone system for you and call you back when they've reached an agent. I was skeptical at first, but I desperately needed an official answer about my living status for MFS purposes since I had made Roth contributions. The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed that educational separations are considered temporary absences that don't qualify as "living separately" for MFS purposes, especially since I was helping with housing costs. The peace of mind from getting an official answer was worth it.

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway out of desperation. I needed to confirm my living situation for MFS filing since I had already contributed to a Roth IRA. The service got me through to an IRS representative in about 22 minutes. The agent confirmed that since my spouse's absence was for education (medical school in my case), we would be considered "living together" for MFS purposes despite maintaining separate addresses. This meant I needed to address my Roth contribution immediately since I was over the income limit. Having official confirmation directly from the IRS gave me confidence to take the right steps to fix the situation before filing. Saved me from potential penalties and a lot of stress!

One thing nobody's mentioned is that if you're helping pay for his housing and you co-signed the lease, that creates an even stronger case that you're financially connected households. The IRS looks at financial entanglement as much as physical location. I found this out the hard way when my spouse was working a temporary assignment across the country. We had separate addresses but shared finances, and the IRS determined we were "living together" for MFS purposes during an audit. Ended up having to remove excess Roth contributions and pay penalties. Document everything very carefully, especially if you're going to try claiming you lived separately the entire year. Bank statements showing separate finances and utility bills in separate names can help if you ever get questioned.

I think there's confusion about what "lived with" means for IRS purposes. It doesn't just mean physically under same roof. If spouse is away for school or job but its temporary and you're still financially connected (like paying their rent!!), you're considered living together. I've been through this exact situation. Wife in residency in different state. I paid some of her bills. IRS considers that LIVING TOGETHER for MFS status. Had to remove roth contributions and pay penalty. Really sucked. If you already contributed to Roth and need to file MFS as "lived together" you should look into removing the excess contribution ASAP before you file. Theres a process for it to avoid bigger penalties.