My boyfriend and I want to get married and he owes back child support. How do we go about filing our taxes since I usually get money back every year. Do they have the right to pull my tax refund if we are married? Or should I file separately until he doesn' t owe any more money

I would assume that if you file jointly they will take the entire refund. You are acknowledging that your money is joint... thus what he owes is what you owe. I would filed separately until he is caught up.

Or... you could catch it up faster and file jointly and get it taken care of, then you don't have to worry about it anymore.

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Originally Posted by macksmom

I would assume that if you file jointly they will take the entire refund. You are acknowledging that your money is joint....

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... and it is the reason for many courts to increase the child support.:)

Once you are married, file a joint tax return. Along with that, you (just you) file an injured spouse claim. It will delay your refund but the IRS will prorate the amount of the joint refund due from each of your individual incomes and will not allow your portion to be intercepted for the payment of child support arrearages. Of course, there's always the chance that nothing will get intercepted anyhow as these things often slip through the cracks. Also it's my understanding that a tax refund is not intercepted unless there's at least $500 arrearages due. If possible, try to pay the arrearages prior to tax time or at least pay off some to get it under $500.

Here is information and a link to the form (IRS Form 8379) you would need to file that s_cianci spoke of: Injured Spouse Claims