[net.taxes] Spouse Needed To Average

cw (12/03/82)

A recent submission stated that a spouse was needed to income
average if one were a student.  That was not the case when
I averaged over my student years.  The requirement was that the
taxpaying unit (i.e., single person or couple) should provide
more than half (I may remember the percentage wrong) of their
income for the averagable years.  Thus, I have several times
averaged over student years and have not had any trouble.  I have
had these returns checked for arithmetic errors, so I assume that
the IRS also checked for eligibility.

The previous article was right in saying that the requirements
are strict.

Charles