quote:

Originally posted by miriahw:
Me and my DH got engaged a in August and set a wedding date. He is in the reserves. THen, he was called and activated to another Unit (not his) and was gone within a month. He was going to miss the wedding so we married before he left. We married mid-October.

Congratulations!

I am lost on filing taxes. I filed last year- but it was simple.
My parents told me that since I was home all year until then and am currently moved back in for the duration of the deployment that they are claiming me as a dependant. His parents said they are claiming him as well.
How am I supposed to file my taxes? If they claim us... we cannot file as a seperate married couple with me as his dependant.

Whether you can be claimed by your parents or not depends on the "support test". Did you (and your husband) provide most of your financial support during 2007, or did your parents? If you didn't have a "real" job during the year, then odds are your parents will be able to claim you. Your husband will have to go through the same test with his parents to determine his status. Support includes things such as housing, utilities, food, clothing, education, recreation, travel, etc.

You will file a married tax return. Based on what you've posted, the correct filing status for you would be married filing jointly. You will not be a dependent on his tax return. You will be either the taxpayer or the spouse, but neither of these is a dependent status to the IRS. According to the IRS, you are equal. If it winds up that your parents should claim you as a dependent on their tax return, you will not file a personal exemption for yourself on your return. If your in-laws claim should claim your husband on their tax return, you won't file a personal exemption for him. The personal exemption is essentially worth $3400 that you don't have to pay taxes on, same a dependent exemption.

What way is the best to file in this scenerio? Married, but file seperately? Also.. he is gone, so does he file? I was curious because I can't imagine the single men filing their taxes from Iraq.. so is he expected to file? (Me for him?)

Married filing jointly is the correct filing status for you. Your physical separation is not the same as what the IRS means by separated. They mean more along the lines of a legal separation. Yours is instead a temporary situation caused by his military service. You have several options as to when to file. You can file at the regular time and use either a power of attorney or indicate in his signature block that he's on a military deployment. This is included in the instructions about signing your return. You can also wait until he gets back. Servicemembers a combat zone receive huge extensions to file their taxes. Basically the length of his extension is the amount of time during the tax season that he was deployed plus six months. Just make sure that the two of you know and agree to what you're doing before you decide one way or the other.

I would appreciate any help I can get. My workplace is making me fill out my W2s again and I can't until I know what I'm supposed to do..

Your W-4s are to determine how much of your paycheck to withhold during 2008. I'm not sure how long your husband is deployed for, so I'm not sure what your situation will be for next year. It's entirely possible that even if you live with your parents for all of 2008, you might not be their dependent. It just depends on how things work out. Make sure that you talk to your parents about it again this time next year before either they or you file your taxes.

Thank you!