Me and my husband got married in Feb 07, 3 months after that we separated and have been separated until Jan of this year 2014, I have always claimed Head of Household as to i was not living at the home and had our 12 year old more than 50 percent of the time.
After reviewing his taxes, he has been filing single instead of married filing separate. It was a honest mistake he thought he could, I know he should of checked with the person peparing his taxes.
My question is what do we do now, can we amend all 6 years of his income tax, is he going to go to jail, i just want to fix the problem but not sure where to start.

This year we will be filing together as i am in the process of moving back into the house.


He only makes 13,000 a year and owns his own business.

Thanks

Me and my husband got married in Feb 07, 3 months after that we separated and have been separated until Jan of this year 2014, I have always claimed Head of Household as to i was not living at the home and had our 12 year old more than 50 percent of the time.=============>>>>>>>You can claim the HOH filing status on your tax return if you pass three tests: Unmarried Test, Support Test, and Qualifying Person Test. A person filing for HOH is unmarried or considered unmarried at the end of the year, and paid more than half the cost of maintaining a home for the year, and has one or more qualifying persons who reside with the taxpayer for more than half the year. To qualify for HOH statusyou must be unmarried or considered as if you were unmarried for the year.Normally, you must be unmarried on the last day of the year in order to file as HOH. Unmarried means you are not married because you are single, divorced, or legally separated under a separate maintenance decree. As general rule, state law determines whether you are married or not married; In other words, you would need to (1) reside someplace separate from your spouse for at least the last six months of the year, and (2) pay for more than half the cost of maintaining your home, and (3) have one or more qualifying persons living with them at your separate home for more than half the year.


After reviewing his taxes, he has been filing single instead of married filing separate. It was a honest mistake he thought he could, I know he should of checked with the person peparing his taxes.========>>>>>I guess so. Except in very specific circumstances, married people cannot file their income taxes with a status of "single." Ass he’s married, he usually has only two options at tax time: file a joint tax return, or file as married but with separate returns. You can only file single on your return if you are considered single on the last day of the tax year. In order to be considered married, you and your spouse must be living together as husband and wife, married and living apart but not legally separated, or married but separated under a divorce decree which is not final on the last day of the tax year. If none of these conditions are met, then you and your spouse are considered unmarried at the end of the tax year and have the choice between filing single or head of household. Generally, only couples who are legally separated under state law can file single.
My question is what do we do now, can we amend all 6 years of his income tax, is he going to go to jail, i just want to fix the problem but not sure where to start.==============If you want yes you can do it; If you OWE the IRS, you still need to submit the amended returns and pay them what you owe. You can always amend your tax returns. Although you may qualify for more than one filing status, you cannot use one that you are not eligible for; as you mistakenly chose the single status, it's a good idea to amend your returns. The main reason is that different tax brackets apply to single and married filing separately taxpayers. Depending on the amount of taxable income you have, you may owe more tax after making the change however, I guess MFS is the HIGHEST tax rate and you will have to pay extra taxes. You will very likely owe additional tax, but no way to estimate that without seeing your numbers.And you will pay extra fees to who ever prepares your returns. you will also need to amend state returns as well. Too much of a hassle unless there is a very good reason you need to file separate. If you claimed EIC or an education credit, it will have to be paid back by filing amended returns. this could be expensive as you aren't allow those on an MFS return.
Note;The IRS has three years from the time you file the original tax return to conduct an audit, which may uncover your wrong filing status. Therefore, if this three-year time limit has not expired, you should amend your return to use the married filing separately status. The IRS has three years to give you a refund, three years to audit your tax return, and ten years to collect any tax due. For example, your 2012 tax return is due on April 15th, 2013. Add three years to this filing deadline, and you have until April 15th, 2016, to file your 2012 tax return and still get a tax refund. If you file your 2012 return after April 15th, 2016, then your refund expires. It goes away forever because the statute of limitations for claiming a refund has closed.


This year we will be filing together as i am in the process of moving back into the house.He only makes 13,000 a year and owns his own business.========>>>>>>>>even if he makes only $13K as a biz owner filing Sch C of 1040, he nedsd to file his return aslongas the amount on Sch C line 29/31 is 4400 or eceeds $400 and needs to pay self employment tax aslongas the amount on SCh SE line 2/3 is also $400 or exceeds $400; Remember;if you are filing as a sole proprietor and/or a self-employed individual, you generally have to make quartetly estimated tax payments if you expect to owe tax of $1K(after subtractions of estimated taxes and refundable credit) or more when you file your return.However, You do not have to pay estimated tax for the current year if you had no tax liability for the prior year ;you were a U.S. citizen or resident for the whole year ;your prior tax year covered a 12 month period