Should I file Separately this year?

Run it both ways on a tax program to show him. But file together, it costs less money.

Of course he doesn't get the concept. After all the tax return shows a refund of money withheld from your W-2 and that's from your side of the money.

You only have a few solutions.

1. Stop thinking of this as my money and his money. Yes, it's incredibly difficult to get on the same page, but you need to after 3 years if you plan to be together for the next 50.

2. Take last year's tax return and redo it as 2 MFS returns. If the effect of MFJ vs 2 MFS returns is minimal (no kids, no education credits), maybe you can get through to him that *you* would have had a refund and he would have owed, so you want him to write you a check for his share so it goes back into *your* budget.

3. Yeah, you could file MFS this year and let him suffer the consequences, but paying the IRS interest and penalties would be the alternative. He'd get hit with estimated tax penalties, failure to file (it sounds like you are the one who meets deadlines), failure to pay and interest.

In terms of taxes, you will almost certainly pay less taxes as a household if you file a joint return rather than 2 separate returns. You can always run both options in a tax software program and compare the results before you submit anything to the IRS.

As for the practical side of keeping your finances separate: I think your best option is to just combine all your finances and live as one. Your marriage vows probably included something along the lines of "For richer or poorer" and "for better or for worse." If you guys really meant those words then you'd have no problem combining your finances without worrying about "his" and "hers."

I am a bit confused,you are asking if you should file separately but you say your husband gets refunds each year but doesn't pay in? how can he get refunds if you are filing jointly, don't you both get the refund?

but let me clarify something, self employment is considered earned income and as such the person is eligible for EIC, and it is not always required to have children in the home, low income is also eligible for EIC, this may be why his se tax gets paid for him with the EIC credit

this may not be your case but it is one way of explaining his refunds

if you file separately and have children the EIC is disallowed

and you can file jointly with you filing an injured spouse form to separate his liabilities from yours

if you feel that you have been paying for his se tax you can amend your 2007, 2008 and 2009 returns including the injured spouse form and possibly get refunded what is rightly yours

A couple usually owes more in total if they file separately. If he hasn't paid taxes at all (quarterly, not "by December"), he will owe an additional penalty.

You could maybe threaten to file separately, and have him fill out the tax return to see how much he would owe. But don't actually file that way. If you intend to stay married to this guy, then what hurts him financially hurts you.

A better approach would be for you to get the form he needs to send in quarterly payments, and help him fill it out.

If you each file separately, the total tax your family pays will be a lot more that if you filed a joint return. YOUR tax might be less though if you don't pay anything toward his.

And if he's self employed, even 10% isn't going to come close to what he owes.

Your call.

Filing "married filing separate" is the least beneficial of all the filing statuses. If you file separate from your husband you are not eligible for many tax benefits/credits.

MFS taxpayers are not eligible to claim the following tax benefits:

Tuition and fees deduction

Student loan interest deduction

Tax-free exclusion of US bond interest

Tax-free exclusion of Social Security Benefits

Credit for the Elderly and Disabled

Child and Dependent Care Credit

Earned Income Credit

Hope or Lifetime Learning Educational Credits

But if you don't want to be liable for his taxes, then you may want to file separate. You can go to http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/t...

and enter your info and see which is better.