Hello and welcome to Moneygirls quick and dirty tips for a richer life.

Today's topic, your tax questions, answered. I've received several recent questions

about taxes, so I'd like to answer some of them in today's episode.

Paul in San Antonio emailed me with this question.

My partner and I are not married.

We are both, however, contributing a significant amount to savings and are thinking about

creating a joint high-yield savings or checking account. We're both curious and

concerned about the tax implications. In a situation like ours, who pays the taxes on interest

earnings that are a result of our deposits? Thanks for the question Paul. So who

does pay the tax on the interest on a joint account?

The answer is, it depends.

Banks will send a form 1099-int to the first taxpayer named on the account.

This information will also be reported to the IRS for

that taxpayer. So if you're the primary account holder, you'll receive the 1099 and the IRS will look for the interest on your tax return

unless you tell them otherwise. If one of you is in a substantially lower tax

bracket than the other you may want to list that person's name as the primary

account holder so that they will receive the 1099. If you consider the person in the lower

tax bracket to be the primary account holder, they'll pay tax on all the

interest at their lower tax rate, which would save money overall.

Although only one of you will receive the 1099, you and your partner can agree to each pay half of the tax that is owed on the interest.

If you split the tax and only your partner receives the 1099,

be sure to include a note with your tax return that gives your

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