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Which one is better: Married filing jointly or filing as single (not married)?

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Which one is better: Married filing jointly or filing as single (not married)?

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Although filing jointly is often better, there is a risk that may not be obvious. Once you file jointly, you are permanently and irrevocably committed to being individually and severably liable for each other’s taxes on all income that should have been reported, whether or not it actually was. In plain English, this means that, if either of you made any money without telling the other, and the IRS discovers that after the joint return is filed, then the IRS can make either one of you pay the tax on that money, even if the person that the IRS asks to pay did not know about that money, and the divorce court cannot do anything to stop the IRS from making that person pay. This is rarely an issue with couples who are still happily married when the IRS discovers the problem, and when the payment is due, but it is often a problem if the couple divorce before the tax money is paid to the IRS.

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