If your spouse itemizes, you have to itemize too, even if the standard deduction would get you more. Usually just a bigger tax bill, but there are a few possible perks. If you live in a community property state — Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington or Wisconsin — anything couples earn generally belongs to both spouses equally, which kills off most of these perks. If your marriage is annulled, the IRS also considers you unmarried even if you filed jointly in previous years.
Don't be sneaky. Possibly lower taxes if you make a lot of money. You each use the single tax filing status. Tax filing status options. Filing status. Who might use it. Head of household. Married filing separately.
Married filing jointly. Most married couples. Qualified widow or widower. Who can use it:. How it works:. What it gets you:. Married, filing jointly. Who uses it:. Married, filing separately. The list is here. All backed by tons of nerdy research.
But you can lower your tax burden by either itemizing your deductions or taking the standard deduction, a dollar amount that automatically reduces your taxable income.
It could be higher for people who are 65 or older or blind. The U. Relevant sources: Topic No. Whom May I Claim as a Dependent? She has accounting degrees and certifications from Clemson University and the U.
Career Institute. You can find her on LinkedIn. Image: Couple working on their tax return on opposite sides of the kitchen table, trying to decide if they should use the married filing separately tax status. But keep in mind that using this status means you may pay more tax and miss out on a number of tax breaks.
Advertiser Disclosure We think it's important for you to understand how we make money. Married couples have a yearly choice to make come tax time: File jointly or separately? Show Hide. Her favorite topics include maximizing credit card rewards and budgeting. Wh… Read more.
If you or your spouse contributed to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, like an IRA, then the deduction may be greatly reduced or eliminated if your income is more than a certain amount. Interest income from qualified U. Registered domestic partners who live in California, Nevada, or Washington are also subject to community property laws.
If you file from one of these states, you will need to do some extra work. In addition to reporting your separate income and deductions on your tax return, you will need to also report half of your combined community income and deductions using a worksheet.
A joint return will usually result in a lower tax liability owed federal taxes or a bigger tax refund than two separate returns. However, there are a few reasons why you and your spouse might want to file separate tax returns:. All cases are unique, and there are really no hard and fast rules about when filing separately will get you a bigger refund or lower taxes due.
That being said, filing separately can often benefit you if you have a lot of itemized deductions that are subject to an AGI "floor". In the case of employee business expenses, remember that y ou can only deduct expenses that relate to your work as an employee if any of the following apply:. Start Tax Calculator. If you and your spouse file separate returns, your access to certain tax benefits will be severely limited. Because of this, the combined tax calculated on separate returns is generally higher than the tax calculated on a joint return.
If your filing status is Married Filing Separately , the following limitations will apply to your tax return:. Some of the above limitations may not affect you at all. Others may make you reconsider filing separately. For example, numbers make the Married Filing Separately status not a good choice, tax-wise, for students.
In any case, it is a good idea to estimate your tax refund or liability with our Free Tax Calculator using both Married filing statuses so you know which one would be most beneficial to you. You will need to enter the following information for your spouse on the Personal Information screen of your eFile. If you do not have the spouse's social security number you can prepare the return on eFile. You can print your return from your eFile.
0コメント