*Loan,banking and credit>>>tax filing

Tax filing if mate is missing?

Husband and wife have filed jointly for years. Husband took off one day and has been living with his parents somewhere in Europe. He has made no contact with his wife in over a year. So, when the wife files her taxes this next year, would she file 'married filing separately' since they are still married? Also, should it be of any concern to her, or will it come back on her if he doesn't file any tax return?

You cannot file as single as you were still legally married at the end of the year. If you were legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance, then you can file single.

Otherwise, you must file married, separately. He would have to agree to filing married joint and since there is no contact with him, then separate it is. Source(s): CPA for 20+ years

If they haven't lived together all year, she might be able to file single or head of household (if she has dependents). If they did live together part of the year, she'll have to file married filing separate.

If he doesn't file tax returns, it shouldn't affect her.
She would file Married Filing Separate if she isn't supporing children at home. She can file Head of Household if she is supporting children at home and they haven't lived together any of the last 6 months of the year.

As long as you file a return on your own, you can't get in trouble if your husband doesn't file one of his own. That would all be on him.
She's stuck with married filing separately if she doesn't have any dependents. And if he doesn't file, she isn't responsible for that.
Assuming that she had income she would file a MFS (Married Filing Separately) return. She could file a MFJ return if she could get him to sign it.
Unless he is trying to be unlocatable and hiding in the woods, I would think the husband could be located without too much effort to request his signature on a joint return or response to a divorce petition. The wife ought to have her inlaws address written somewhere.