married filing jointly? can i do that?

[epoy2 0]

hi guys,

i am about to file my tax.

my wife has no income at all, she just had her green card and SSN.

can i file as married filing jointly?

will i get a bigger refund if i file as married filing joinlty?

thanks guys.

[jundp 191]

I'm not an accountant, but I would think that filing Head of Household would be better. If your wife doesn't work then she doesn't need to file, but she is your dependent.

[dodson01 0]

I'm not an accountant, but I would think that filing Head of Household would be better. If your wife doesn't work then she doesn't need to file, but she is your dependent.

Yes, you can definitely file married filing joint even if your spouse had no income. This would definitely save you a lot of money. As far as Head of Household, I don't think you can do this.

[DARUMA07 25]

We filed jointly.... Ruchie isn't working yet!!! You will get a bigger refund if you file it that way.

[Imua 0]

I'm not an accountant, but I would think that filing Head of Household would be better. If your wife doesn't work then she doesn't need to file, but she is your dependent.

Yes, you can definitely file married filing joint even if your spouse had no income. This would definitely save you a lot of money. As far as Head of Household, I don't think you can do this.

I remember there was a discussion about this and someone quoted the IRS rules 'your spouse is NEVER your dependent' - since your wife has her SSN I think your best bet is married filing jointly, you get a bigger refund than married filing separately(which we will have to do since my hubby does not have ITIN/SSN).

[Kez/JWolf 6]

I'm not an accountant, but I would think that filing Head of Household would be better. If your wife doesn't work then she doesn't need to file, but she is your dependent.

If you were married on the 31st Dec 2007 you can not file as head of household.... filling jointly is not dependent on your spouse having an income....

Filling jointly will give you the largest personal allowance and the largest refund available....

Kez

[Jimmy and Angela 0]

here is a link you might find useful

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96287,00.html

[epoy2 0]

thanks for the reply everybody.

we were married for a year and a half now.

she had her SSN november of 2007 and her green card january of 2008.

yup, i can never file as head of houshold since we had been together for almost a year now and she is/will not be my dependent as per IRS rules.

so the best choice is: i will file married filing jointly since she had no income at all/ she never work at all. i guess this will give us a bigger refund.

again, thanks everyone.

God Bless us all.

[ED*Riza 0]

As I go over with my husband tax it seems that filed jointly has more refund