Need tax advice... how should I file?

Married filing joint and file the injured spouse form 8379 to claim your share of the federal income tax return amount and keep it from being used as a part of the income tax REFUND offset program for the legally owed past due government debts.

Go to the www.irs.gov and use the search box for Instructions for Form 8379 (12/2010) Injured Spouse Allocation

http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8379/index.html

Form 8379 is filed by one spouse (the injured spouse) on a jointly filed tax return when the joint overpayment was (or is expected to be) applied (offset) to a past-due obligation of the other spouse. By filing Form 8379, the injured spouse may be able to get back his or her share of the joint refund.

Are You an Injured Spouse?

Form 8379 (Rev. December 2010) PDF Injured Spouse Allocation

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8379.pdf

Hope that you find the above enclosed information useful and good luck to you

No, no, no, your WIFE is the injured spouse. Because she doesn't owe and she's the one creating the refund, she's injured because HER money is going to pay YOUR debt.

Since she had all of the income, she files the form. However, if you live in California, Idaho or Louisiana, don't bother. State law allows the IRS to keep all the money anyway. If you live in one of the other community property states, half of the refund (plus all EIC) would be allocated to her. In the NON-community property states, the refund is almost all hers.

you can either file married jointly or separately, if you file jointly the spouse that doesn't owe can include an injured spouse form to separate each obligation

or you can file separately, the problem with that filing is that EIC is disallowed and you have to use the same method, either standard deduction or itemized and in some cases this is a disadvantage to one or the other

if one is handicapped does this one have income to report?