Quick question

[SM_in_FL]

Darn, I have alot of quick questions....lol
anyway, here goes:

1) For income tax purposes, since hubby pays CS (and for whatever reason ends up on arrears), is it prudent and/or legal to file as married but filing seperately so that my refund doesn't get garnished like it has been in the past?

Thanks as always!
SM

[jilly]

Yes it is legal for you to file as married filing separately. Whether it is prudent or not is up to you.  My suggestion would be to purchase some tax preparation software, such as TurboTax, and run the numbers through filing jointly and married filing separately.
That's what I did last year because my husband had some child support arrears and I did not want any of the money I worked for going to pay for his obligation. I ran the numbers to see how it would pan out filing either way. Turned out that if we filed as married filing separately I would get a very nice tax refund but my hubby would end up owing a huge amount because he did some side work and received a 1099 for that money. But, filing jointly, we owed money for Federal and had a refund for State. Turned out that the State only took part of the refund so it didn't all go towards arrears.
Also, if you file jointly you can file an Injured Spouse Form (you can get information on this, as well as the form, on their website).  By doing this, the IRS will take into consideration the percentage of the refund that belongs to you and the percentage that belongs to your husband. They will then keep his refund for the arrears and you get the percentage for which you worked.
It may be better to just bite the bullet (and I know how hard that is!) and let them take the tax refund so the CS arrears will decrease.

[LizaLou1]

I filed as married but separate just so the DH's ex would no insight into my income.  She already thinks my income should be used for support calucations.  We "lost" about $50 by filing separately, but I don't care.

LizaLou

[socrateaser]

>1) For income tax purposes, since hubby pays CS (and for
>whatever reason ends up on arrears), is it prudent and/or
>legal to file as married but filing seperately so that my
>refund doesn't get garnished like it has been in the past?
>
Change your w-4 so that you owe a small amount in taxes at year end. Then there will be no refund to intecept.