Taxes

The majority of my caseload falls into two categories: Criminal Defense and Family Law.  As tax season is fully upon us, it has become apparent to me that taxes present wildly different reactions from clients, depending on what kind of case they are currently dealing with.

My criminal clients are generally anxious to get their taxes filed because they are expecting a refund (thank you EIC!), which they can then use to pay off their fines and court costs in order to get discharged from probation early.

My family law clients, however, are finding taxes a nightmare while in the midst of a divorce or custody situation.  If you are married on December 31 of a given year, then you must file taxes as "married, filing jointly" or "married, filing separately."  Often, the last thing my clients want to do is sit down with their spouse and file a joint return.  However, as we serve low-income clients, the benefits of filing jointly can be quite significant.  By filing separately, you lose the ability to claim: Tuition and fees deduction, Student loan interest deduction, Child and Dependent Care Credit, Earned Income Credit, and the Hope or Lifetime Learning Educational Credits.  So it is always a difficult decision whether to work together to file, or avoid the drama and file separately.

In custody cases, there is always a big disagreement about who will claim the child as a dependent.  And I discovered this week that even when there is a Court Order in place dictating who will claim the child, it basically comes down to a race to file - once one person has filed and claimed the child, the other person's return will be denied if he then tries to (rightly) claim the child on his return!  This wrongful claiming can be remedied, but it is sort of a painful, long, drawn-out process that involves paper-filing (ugh!) and waiting for a determination from the IRS as to who can rightfully claim the child.

See, even with taxes, it's all about perspective!  Happy filing, everyone  :)