Will I still get my tax refund?

I have been with my husband 12 years. We just got married in May though. He owes a lot of back child support & never gets a return. I always claimed head of household for me & our daughter & get earned income credit on her. Now that we are married what will happen? Will they take my refund?

You can protect your share of any refund on a joint return by filing Form 8379 with your tax return. Expect the processing of any refund to be delayed for several weeks, however.

You can avoid that hassle if you both file Married Filing Separately. However the costs of filing that way through potentially higher tax rates and loss of some credits generally make that a less than optimal way to file.

Now that you are married you MUST file a joint return to qualify for the EIC. Unless both of you have a very low income you'll probably no longer be eligible for any EIC payments any more, though. The "marriage penalty" is largely gone for the wealthy but folks of more modest means still have that one to deal with.

The best way for you to deal with this is for you and your husband to carefully work out your withholdings so that there is a small balance due at filing time, not a refund. That way there is no refund to be captured and you don't have to deal with the hassle at all.

TFTP Report It

The "Head of Household" filing status is no longer available to you. You must file as "Married-Filing Jointly" or "Married-Filing Separately".

If you file "Separately" you will get your refund but you will not qualify for EIC.

If you file "Jointly" you may or may not qualify for EIC based on your combined income. You should file a form 8379 (Injured Spouse) or else the entire joint refund will be seized. If you file the 8379, the IRS will split the joint refund between you and your husband. His refund will be seized and you will get yours but it will take a while (12 weeks or so).

Of course, these issues go away if he just pays is Child Support current.....

I don't think so, because YOU have nothing to do with his other children. That should only come out of his taxes.

You can get your refund in two ways. You can file as married filing separately, and then it won't be touched. But you might end up paying more taxes than you would on a joint return. And if you file separately, you aren't eligible for EIC.

If you file jointly, you can file an injured spouse form along with your return. The form basically splits the refund into what's due to your income and withholding, and what's due to his - only his share would be taken. Note than if you live in a community property state, special rules will apply.