Getting Divorced? Here Are 4 Ways Your Taxes Will Change
Divorce is a time of major change and upheaval, and given everything else that's likely going on in your life, you may not have given much thought to the tax consequences. However, it's important to be aware of these four ways your taxes will change as a result of divorce so you can prepare well in advance.
The IRS considers you unmarried for the year if your divorce, annulment, or separate maintenance decree was finalized by the last day of the year. So when you file your taxes for that year, you can no longer use either "married filing jointly" or "married filing separately" as your filing status. If you have kids or other dependents living with you, you may qualify to use the "head of household" filing status; otherwise, you'll have to file as "single." In either case, you'll be using a different set of tax brackets than you did during your marriage.
If you got an annulment rather than a divorce, things get a bit more complicated tax-wise. An annulment basically means that you were never married in the first place, which means you have to file amended returns for all the open tax returns from past years to change your filing status. In most cases, that will mean refiling three years' worth of tax returns.
Source: Fool.com
