Tax Tips for Recently Married Taxpayers

Here are some tax tips for recently married taxpayers to help you avoid stress at tax time.

• Notify the Social Security Administration — Report any name change to the Social Security Administration so that your name and SSN will match when filing your next tax return.  Informing the SSA of a name change is quite simple.  File a Form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card at your local SSA office.  The form is available on the link above, at SSA’s Web site, or by calling 800-772-1213, or at local offices.  Your income tax refund may be delayed if it is discovered your name and SSN don’t match at the time your return is filed.

Notify the Department of Motor Vehicles — You may need to change your name on your driver’s license and probably will need to change your address as well.

• Notify the IRS  — If you have a new address, you should notify the IRS by sending Form 8822 Change of Address.
• Notify the U.S. Postal Service  —  You should also notify the U.S. Postal Service when you move so that any IRS or state tax agency correspondence can be forwarded.
• Review Your Withholding and Estimated Tax Payments  —  If both you and your new spouse work, your combined income may place you in a higher tax bracket, and you may have an unpleasant surprise when we prepare your return for 2012.  On the other hand, if only one works, filing jointly with your new spouse can provide a significant tax benefit, enabling you to reduce your withholding or estimated payments.  The fat is in the fire for 2012, but it may be appropriate to review your  withholding (W-4 status) and estimated tax payments, if any, for 2013 to make sure you are not going to be under-withheld and set yourself up to receive bad news.

Regarding Form W-4, check out our recent blog  — “Caution, Some Exemptions are Already Built Into the W-4’s Rates!” — as the way to fill out that form is easily misunderstood since the IRS automatically includes you if you are single and you and your spouse if you are married in their tables.  Claiming yourselves again (example: married with 4 exemptions) when you are married with two children, will result in claiming you and your spouse twice.  You could owe additional money at the end of the year when you are expecting a refund instead!

If you have any questions, give us a call at 559.924.1225.