Do married people pay less federal tax? Does my filing status (filing separately vs. jointly) matter with respect to how much tax is witheld? If married people pay less tax, then should I expect a big check from the IRS because I was married for 2nd half of the calendar year, and single for the other half?

no,yes,maybe

Talk to your CPA about it. And if you don't have one, get one.

I concur.

???

Well it depends on your state, but my guess is that you'd be entitled to the married tax rate as the of the date you are legally married. Therefore you are probably entitled to a refund if you paid too much.

even if you get married in December you can file jointly for the whole year.

That's really cool.

This gives me a business idea - have a "marriage beaurau" where people (who don't even know each other) get married on December 31st and get divorced on Jan 3rd (a few days later), and reduce their taxes for the whole of the previous year. I charge 20% of the net profit.

so married people pay less tax?

Similarly if you have a baby in December it counts as if you had the dependant the whole year.Many people plan to have their kids at the end of the year.only if all other variables are equal.

No, I don't think so. Your additional exemption makes up for your increased gross income (from 2 salaries).

In fact, it used to be that married people paid more, but Congress has passed stop-gap measures to prevent the "marriage tax" penalty from occuring.

Yeah, same deal for the child-tax credit. Have a child by Dec 31st and you get the credit.

Any business idea for that one Int?

My sister's due at the very end of December, I hope for her sake the baby isn't late as I know how she likes to reduce her taxes.

I can think of several but it would take some people on "the inside"...

How much proof does the government require to claim a kid as your own? Say you claim to have given birth at home, and you don't believe in prenatal testing and whatnot.

And even if medical records are required they can certainly be "doctored"...

Social Security number.

Yes, but how does a kid GET a social security number??
What would potentially prevent 10 parents from claiming the SAME kid as their own? Do they take DNA, fingerprints etc, and if so does the IRS actually check this against each request???

Sure, the IRS checks. It is all done electronically. You have to put down the SSN's of all the dependents claimed on your tax forms.

A person gets an SSN by applying for one shortly after birth. I do not know if it a requirement to have one (probably is), but a person will have a very hard time getting a job or any sort of government benefits without one.

That wasn't my question. I was asking what prevents 10 "parents" for applying for a SSN for the same kid? I assume they require a birth certificate. So what does it take to get a birth certificate, and do THEY medically "identify" the kid??

to claim a kid as a dependent doesn't require his/her birth certificate, just SS#. your question can be asked of any dependents - what prevents 10 friends claiming any same person as a dependent. the possible audit, i guess?

I am saying for each "parent" to apply for a separate Birth Certificate and a SEPARATE SSN. Then even if it is audited it wouldn't turn up...

It's not easy to forge a birth certificate and what you are proposing is high-risk/low reward.

i wonder if you'll be able to do this. SSA is a federal agency, so when you come to apply for a SS#, something in the system might click, suggesting this kid already has a SS#?

I'm not talking about forgery. I'm talking about getting multiple real birth certificates for the same kid...

Like 10 parents going to the board of health (or whoever is responsible for Birth Certificates) and saying his is their kid and was born at home... What info do they require before issuing a BC??? And what info is required to obtain a SSN???

Like my father had a cousin years back before computerization who used to go to 5 different DMV branches claim he lost the title to his car and they would give him a new one (not knowing he had already done this X amount of times).

He then "sold" the car to 5 different people and gave them each a valid title (and quickly left town before they figured it out).

Why can't this potentially be done with a kid, except in this case no one would ever know because Uncle Sam isn't going to ask to see the kid when they audit you...