How to file taxes after getting divorced - married only 4 months in 2024

If we choose married filing separately, do we each report only our own income or do we still need to know what the other person made? And does it matter that we lived together only until October when I moved out?

With Married Filing Separately, you only report your own income, wages, deductions, and credits on your individual return. You don't need to know your ex's specific income amounts, which is one of the main advantages in situations like yours. Living arrangements don't affect your filing status. The IRS only looks at your legal marital status as of December 31st. Even though you moved out in October, you were still legally married at the end of the year, so you must file as married (either jointly or separately).

Does it actually give you legal advice about how to file? I'm getting mixed info from different tax sites about my separation situation.

I'm curious - does this work if you have complicated situations like self-employment income or rental properties? My divorce involved all that plus splitting investment accounts midyear.

It doesn't give legal advice specifically, but it analyzes your tax documents and identifies the correct filing status based on your situation. It shows you the tax implications of different filing choices, highlighting which credits or deductions you might lose with certain statuses. It absolutely handles complex tax situations including self-employment income, rental properties, and investment accounts. It's designed for those exact complicated scenarios where the standard tax software might miss things. It helped me figure out how to handle investment accounts that were transferred between us during the tax year.

Wait, how does this actually work? Do they like hack the IRS phone system or something? I've been trying to reach someone for weeks.

Sounds like a scam. No way they can get you through when the IRS phone lines are jammed. They probably just connect you to some random person pretending to be an agent.

They don't hack anything - they use a completely legitimate callback service that's been featured in major news outlets. Their system navigates the IRS phone tree for you and holds your place in line. When an actual IRS agent is about to be connected, they call you to join the call. Nothing sketchy about it. Not a scam at all. It connects you with actual IRS agents through the official IRS phone system. I was skeptical too until I tried it. The agent verified my identity through the normal IRS verification process and had full access to my tax records. You're always speaking with legitimate IRS employees.

Thanks for bringing this up! I had no idea about the itemizing rule. Does this mean we need to coordinate our filing strategies even if we're doing separate returns? That seems frustrating.

Yes, you do need to coordinate at least on this one aspect. If your ex decides to itemize their deductions, you'll be forced to itemize as well, even if your itemized deductions are less than the standard deduction. This can result in you paying more tax than if you both took the standard deduction. It's one of the downsides of the Married Filing Separately status. That's why it's worth having a brief conversation with your ex about whether either of you plans to itemize, just so you're not caught off guard.

No, you can't claim Head of Household if you're married as of December 31st. You would need to be "considered unmarried" which means either legally separated under a decree or legally divorced. Plus you need a qualifying dependent and to have paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home.