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I filed jointly for 2020. My spouse was self-employed at that time. Spouse did not end up working in 2021, so I paid in his estimated taxes to avoid a penalty. What now?

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
March 5, 2022
1 reply
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I want to get that money back since he did not work. How do we go about that? I am filing separately for 2021. Can I claim that I paid in estimated taxes? Or does he need to file to get that back, even though he had no income to file?

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Best answer by DoninGA

When you paid the estimated taxes did you use your name and Social Security number or his name and Social Security number?

Why are you filing separately as that is the worst way to file your taxes when married?

You can file as Married Filing Jointly even if one spouse has little or no income.

DoninGAAnswer

When you paid the estimated taxes did you use your name and Social Security number or his name and Social Security number?

Why are you filing separately as that is the worst way to file your taxes when married?

You can file as Married Filing Jointly even if one spouse has little or no income.

C

camiam83Author

I mailed each payment in with the IL-1040-ES which had both our names and socials on it.
I am filing separately I do not want to be held liable for anything down the road because we filed jointly. Like what happened in 2021. Because we filed jointly in 2020, I was gonna be held liable for him not paying in his estimated taxes for 2021. So I had to pay them. I don’t want to have to pay estimated taxes again for him. Just want to get back what I did pay in.

LudwigVan_fan

Would there be any reason that you can think of that I should avoid filing jointly? We are probably going to separate this year. With that being the case, would there be anything that he could do this year 2022 that would come back on me or make me liable if they see that we filed jointly in 2021?

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Would there be any reason that you can think of that I should avoid filing jointly? We are probably going to separate this year. With that being the case, would there be anything that he could do this year 2022 that would come back on me or make me liable if they see that we filed jointly in 2021?"

You state that your spouse didn't make any money. Unless he hid income from you (which if he did, you could claim innocent spouse). Therefore, I'm assuming the income on what would be a joint return is all your income or joint income. I don't see any extra liability from his side that would affect you. You'll pay much less tax on MFJ than MFS.

Again, unless he hid income from you (legal or illegal) there shouldn't be any extra liability. If by chance that it is discovered later than he did in fact have unreported income and you did not know about it; you would be able to claim innocent spouse and not be liable for any extra tax and penalties.

**Disclaimer: Effort has been made to offer correct information; but due to the discussion forum limitations, the poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the poster's response**