inquiry

[jasontran]

Hello,

I have not encountered this situation. A married couple, both have income. The husband has been incarcerated.  Should they file a joint return? if so, how will the husband sign the return? Please advise.

thank you,

jase

[Just-Lisa-Now- · Accepted solution]

I havent had an incarcerated client in many years, but Im sure the jail offers some method to getting papers to them for signatures.

[itonewbie]

Can your client not bring the tax return to the spouse in prison for signature if they are filing MFJ?

[itonewbie]

Whether they should is an entirely different matter.  Question is whether your client could have an increased tax exposure and whether there are tax benefits in doing so.

[RollTide68]

Married Filing Joint - Yes

Married Filing Separately - Yes

Head of household if the spouse did not reside in the house for the last six months of the year - Maybe

Form 2848 Power of Attorney 

[itonewbie]

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@RollTide68 wrote:

Form 2848 Power of Attorney 

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PoA does not allow the client to sign the return on behalf of the incarcerated spouse (unless specifically approved by the IRS' district director.  See §1.6012-1(a)(5).

[taxiowa]

You typically would want to file jointly especially if spouse doesn't qualify for Head of House.  Jointly is allowed even if one party is in the joint and not living with spouse.  Perhaps you can bake a cake and sneak the 8879 inside to prisoner?

[Terry53029]

You can mail the 8879 to your husband, and have him sign and return

[itonewbie]

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@Terry53029 wrote:

You can mail the 8879 to your husband, and have him sign and return

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My hunch is that whatever gets mailed would be inspected by prison services and some may not be comfortable with their financial records being seen.

[Terry53029]

Have done this several times, and the people involved don't have much of a financial record to worry about