Taxes-Did you file jointly or seperately? Why?

rnfromtn · March 2011

Trying to finish up my taxes, just wondering how other married couples filed. Obviously we want the biggest possible return, and I just don't know which would be more lucrative or if there is even a difference?

MommyMar2010 · March 2011

It definitely depends on your income and if adding either puts you over any kind of tax bracket threshhold.

When I was working (pre DD) I made a LOT (like 70K more) than DH so we filed separately, but without any dependents that was easy and worth doing for tax reasons. Now that I SAH, we file jointly and obvioiusly both claim DD as a dependent, but we still make tooo much $ to get anything back.

So long story short, depends on your income, how much you can deduct, etc.

diana.filipi · March 2011

Jointly, has been since we were married.

wolverine8 · March 2011

diana.filipi:
Jointly, has been since we were married.

This.

Melly Mel · March 2011

Jointly.

mbgreenwalt · March 2011

Jointly. It is what Turbo Tax recommended. It was too difficult to figure out who claims the mortgage/home equity interest and all the other extras to get the best refund.

clee2009 · March 2011

Jointly...very rarely will you be better off if you file separately.

Ciconrad · March 2011

I'm a CPA. There are hardly any circumstances where filing separately will reduce the amount of taxes you pay. You lose all the benefits of being married - the income limits for taking certain deductions are lower and the standard deduction is lower (that's just a list of the obvious downfalls). The only cases where it ever makes sense is if one spouse makes significantly more than the other (I'm talking like she makes $500K and he makes $75K) because than the other spouse's income won't be taxed at the uber-high tax rate. Even then you have to have certain deductions one can take and not the other to see a big difference. Before DS was born, I actually ran ours both ways because DH made about 12 times what I did that year and it was still better to file jointly.

emiliemadison · March 2011

Filing separately is only beneficial for VERY few people, and usually only when there is very, very high income.

mariannerules · March 2011

We file jointly

KtotheYtotheM · March 2011

Jointly.. for more $$$

I figure them out both ways first using tax software, then choose the higher refund but joint is usually better (we have really simple taxes as we are not home owners)

rnfromtn · March 2011

Ciconrad:

I'm a CPA. There are hardly any circumstances where filing separately will reduce the amount of taxes you pay. You lose all the benefits of being married - the income limits for taking certain deductions are lower and the standard deduction is lower (that's just a list of the obvious downfalls). The only cases where it ever makes sense is if one spouse makes significantly more than the other (I'm talking like she makes $500K and he makes $75K) because than the other spouse's income won't be taxed at the uber-high tax rate. Even then you have to have certain deductions one can take and not the other to see a big difference. Before DS was born, I actually ran ours both ways because DH made about 12 times what I did that year and it was still better to file jointly.

Thanks! I filed us jointly last year, and am doing so this year. I was just wondering if anyone doesn't and why. Just being inquisitive.

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Taxes-Did you file jointly or seperately? Why?

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