On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Child Custody on Wednesday, January 28, 2015.
It’s almost too precious to say at this time of the year that tax-related issues can be, well, taxing for a filer.
It’s true, though, and virtually all filers have dealt with one or more headaches during the process of marshalling relevant documents each year, collecting applicable tax forms, wading through instructions and then wondering whether they got the bottom line right.
Those same concerns can hold true for a filer in Illinois, Missouri and everywhere else across the country even in instances when they employ a tax professional to do the work and file their returns.
It’s just a simple and borne-out truism in the United States: Tax considerations are complex, and they are recurring.
Knowing that, you may as well roll up the sleeves and do whatever it takes to get things right each year.
For many people, that means feeling confident about what they owe, because they know they owe. For others, conversely, it can mean reducing uncertainty regarding the benefits they either know they are entitled to or suspect they qualify for.
As a divorced person with kids (or a single parent who was never married), a number of considerations can vie for attention during tax attention, and they should all be carefully considered.
The reason: Many divorced and single-parent filers do not comprehensively investigate all the benefits to which they may be entitled. Consequently, they might be leaving money on the table that is rightfully theirs.
There is actually a lot to know, and an experienced divorce attorney can either point things out or help a client get in touch with a tax professional who can help.
Have you heard of head-of-household status? You might qualify for it and not know that. If you do, you could be happily surprised by a lower tax rate and increased deduction amounts. Do you claim the children as dependents on your return, or does the other parent? As noted in a media article on single parents and taxes, the answer to this question determines “any number of other credits and deductions.”
If you have tax-related questions, be sure to raise them with your family law attorney.
