Tax Refund Frustrations ChrisJane: I just filed my taxes and received my refund. I was legally separated so I was able to file my taxes as head of household and receive EIC, great break for me.
Now my attorney tells me to take a check or money order to the pre-trial hearing on Monday for 1/2 of it because I may be required to give my STBX his share.
Okay, now then, I've went without any child support for two months since he's laid off. He now owes me $3580 in arrearages since last August. His tax refund has gone to back support for the past 12 years so he won't get that. Therefore I can't ask for 1/2 of his but he can ask for 1/2 of mine.
I've already assumed 78% of the marital debt, he gets 1/2 of my retirement and now he may get 1/2 my tax refund.
Everyone told him to straighten up because it was cheaper for him to keep me then to divorce. Yeah right, I've found it was cheaper for me to keep him, he's coming out of this pretty darn good.
39 more days till the final hearing....that keeps me going. It'll only sting for a little while! Right?
Re:Tax Refund Frustrations brynne: I may be facing the same issues, we owned the house together the entire year of 2003 so I guess we'll be splitting part of the refund. I'm going to have to ask my acct. It just sucks b/c we will have to be in touch in order for me to give him all the tax doc's from our mortgage co. that have come in (I kept the house). And we will no doubt argue about who gets what % of the refund...oh joy !
Re:Tax Refund Frustrations SunnyFlower: Hmmm...
Tax dillemmas here, too.
I am still legally married this year, but seperated. Last year we were legally married (and seperated) and filed jointly. This year, he's saying he wants to file individually even if it means owing the IRS or getting a lesser return, just to spite me.
Anyone know if I can file really fast FIRST and claim our son? He has him 2 more overnights more a month than I do (according to the courts, although 9 times out of 10 he gives me those two nights as well as other nights the court does not recognize.) I have our son (he's 2 years old) all day every day (aside from every other weekend). I feed him 3 meals a day every day, cut his hair/nails, take him to the doctor, bathe him, and have him every night that I am not at work. (I work 3 twelve hour night shifts a week to avoid having to put my son in day care and the nights I am at work, he stays with his father.)
Neither of us has requested child support from the other spouse, because we have agreed that each of us share approximately equal time with our son (in hours, per sey....most of the hours my son spends with his father is at night while I am at work and so he is subsequently sleeping.... :-\ ) It even says in our divorce settlement agreement that we shall not sue one another for support as long as the current custody arrangement stands.
Also, my stbx lived in the house last year 8 months out of 12 and was solely responsible for the mortgage payments on the house during that time, HOWEVER, the other 4 months were made by our joint account BEFORE we seperated or were made by me AFTER I moved back in last November. (He moved out and decided to give the house to me November 1, 2003...and so now, it is MY sole responsibility...) So...who gets to claim the taxes on the house if he refuses to file jointly??
He is doing all of this just to spite me, I know it...because he has to have "control" over me when he can. I want to file first (he is a FAMOUS procrastinator and will wait until the VERY LAST MINUTE). I can hurry up and file next week, claim our son and the taxes on the house and say "Oh, well! You had your chance to file with me!!" but I don't want to do anything illegal and have him come after me with a lawsuit saying I broke the law.
:-\
Any advice is appreciated...I really don't know much about this stuff.
Re:Tax Refund Frustrations Spectrum: [quote author=SunnyFlower link=board=20;threadid=2001;start=0#msg17640 date=1075539457">
Anyone know if I can file really fast FIRST and claim our son? [/quote">
Hehe..... Actually, if you don't have a specific agreement in your divorce settlement, it is going to be a race to file.
A little known fact: Nine times out of ten, whoever files first with you child's SSN is going to get the exemption. And I think that legitimately, you have a very good case for it, since you are taking care of your child regularly and feeding him every day, even though you have him two nights less per month.
On the other hand, your husband has somewhat of a case also. And for the amount of money involved, the IRS isn't going to be interested in dealing with this decision on their end.
So my advice (as an accountant) is to get your butt to your accountant and file with your son's exemption, because whichever one of you files with it first is going to be the winner, and the other one is going to get a notice from the IRS saying, "We have recalculated the tax on your return, and we are refunding you XXX amount less (OR, you currently owe us XXX in additional tax)."
So get thee to thy accountant!
Spectrum.
Re:Tax Refund Frustrations ChrisJane: Tax laws are touchy when it comes to children and mortgages.
My tax consultant told me that normally the custodial parent gets the exemption. When shared parenting comes into play, it depends on who actually contributes more. If nothing is set in stone, the best bet is to file first! Then when you get your refund put 1/2 aside because you may have to give it up.
Luckily for me, my stbx failed to appear at our pre-trial hearing today. Since he hasn't paid any support since Dec. 1st I get to keep my tad refund, plus I will get 1/3 of his his refund for back support.
Good luck to the others of you that still have to file.
