Married Filing Joint v. Married Filing Separate

[@kaylenerasmussen460]

THANK YOU! You are the only person that has explained this to me in spite of the many videos I've watched.

[@TheTaxGeek]

You're very welcome! Glad it was helpful!

[@practicallythu]

This video is the most comprehensive, thanks for being so thorough!

[@TheTaxGeek]

You're very welcome!

[@jwbridges4027]

Very good info, however, I’m looking for video on Senior’s married filing jointly, where one spouse is blind and how that affects the standard deduction. Thanks!

[@TheTaxGeek]

The Standard Deduction (for 2024) for a married couple filing jointly is $29,200. Both spouses over 65 would receive an additional $1,550 each, plus the blind spouse would receive another $1,550 for blindness. giving a grand total of $33,850.

[@psilocybemusashi]

I have a situation which is probably quite common. I have a mortgage in my name and have much higher income.... I came to this video thinking that i could write off my mortgage insurance and itemize while my wife files separately but takes the individual deduction.... seems like that isn't allowed and since it is not then this strategy probably isn't going to benefit us. I think it would be good if you give some of the most common examples where it would benefit the couple to file separately. sounds like those situations are so rare it probably isn't even worth wasting your time on in the video and not worth it for people to waste their time on investigating. anyone it would benefit probably already has a tax accountant.

[@TheTaxGeek]

The primary reason I posted this video as one of the first videos on the channel was to dispel a lot of myths and out-of-context misinformation that have given people the idea that somehow filing separately can save on taxes. And in very rare circumstances, it might. Here's one example. Two spouses with a wide disparity in income, and the lower-income spouse has a large amount of deductible medical expenses. Since the medical expense deduction is subject to an AGI threshold, the lower earning spouse would have a much lower threshold and be able to deduct more of the expenses. But for that to save on taxes, you'd have to overcome higher tax rates and the potential loss of other deductions or credits by filing separately. It's not impossible, but it's usually very unlikely.

[@bubski4]

I'm thinking through a scenario with Roth Conversions for 2023. What if one spouse has virtually no income but wishes to execute Roth Conversion and take advantage of lower rates in their representative bracket. The other spouse has considerable income. Does prospect of filing change benefit the couple? A conversion under MFJ lands in a higher joint marginal rate (depending on conversion amount). Thoughts?

[@TheTaxGeek]

I would run it both ways and see how it works out. You might be able to take advantage of one spouses lower marginal tax rate, but you have to consider the higher rates the other spouse would run into, and the potential loss of credits and deductions. Also, if the higher earning spouse itemizes, the other spouse must itemize, and probably would have nothing to itemize. Most tax software have features where you can prepare an MFJ return, and then run an analysis splitting it by spouse.

[@jerisonbalos5366]

We just newly married question how do we fillout w4 me and her are working..

[@TheTaxGeek]

An explanation of how to fill out a W4 for a married couple is given in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/nH7HiX57jc2qb7c

[@curiosity2314]

Maybe you might be able to address my question. Married and normally file jointly. Really have nothing to deduct other then a current mortgage. My wife makes around 57,000 in IL and I'm currently on ssdi 22,488.00 after medicare deductions. Sadly my parents passed away this year but I will gain 94,000+ from an IRA left in the will. I would like to pay off most the home we have with the money gained. Are there any benefits either way in filing? Thanks in advance for your kind response.

[@TheTaxGeek]

Although I cannot make a specific recommendation, let me present this idea to you: Since you apparently don't have enough funds (especially after taxes) to completely pay the loan off, your mortgage payment won't change unless you refinance the loan. (You'd just pay off the loan faster) By my rough calculations, you are in the 12% marginal tax rate, with a little over $50K in taxable income. I might withdraw just enough to stay in that tax bracket, which ends at about $83K for MFJ. I presume your parents would be old enough to have RMDs, which will continue for you anyway. Normally, I would be concerned that making a large retirement withdrawal would make more of your Social Security taxable, but you're most likely paying tax on 85% of your benefits already, given your wife's income.

[@curiosity2314]

@@TheTaxGeek Well, not knowing and a bad on my part the check is in the mail. All funds were withdrawn. I imagine it might not be good for me but will be good for your channel in a tax question senario. Thank You for your answer, much appreciated. Any additional advice is always welcome not just for myself but others here looking for information. No worries not holding anyone to any advice given. Again thanks for your quick reply!

[@fecollins9268]

I'm filed married jointly and filed n injured spouse, because my husband owed back taxes. But the CA state taxes take all my refunds to pay what my husband's owed. I still haven't get any info from federal.

[@TheTaxGeek]

Your injured spouse form generally doesn't apply to the state, unless the state itself has an injured spouse mechanism. If CA allows for a different filing status from Federal, you might be able to file MFS for the state, while maintaining MFJ for Federal. As for the Federal refund, injured spouse forms have to be examined manually, which adds to processing time, especially this year. And although you can tell the IRS how you would like things allocated, it's up to the IRS to made the final determination. Your not hearing anything means they have not made that determination yet.

[@fecollins9268]

@@TheTaxGeek Thank you very much.

[@MagicPiano100]

Thank you. I have a question please: If you file MFJ and elect to apply a refund to the following year, but end up filing MFS the following year, who is entitled to the refund?

[@TheTaxGeek]

You both are. You can divide the applied refund between the two of you any way you agree to. If you can't agree, and you each try to claim the full amount of the applied refund, the IRS will probably divide the refund between the two of you, or give the refund to neither of you until you can decide. But thanks for the really interesting question.

[@MagicPiano100]

@@TheTaxGeek Thank you for the interesting answer! I'd been confused by the instructions for Line 36 of the 1040: "Enter on line 36 the amount, if any, of the overpayment on line 34 you want applied to your 2022 estimated tax. We will apply this amount to your account unless you include a statement requesting us to apply it to your spouse's account." This seems to imply that the taxpayer is already MFS. In any event, we prefer the entire refund to be applied to my husband's tax liability in 2022 when we will be MFS so, from what you're saying, he can just apply it as we normally would and I won't use any of it on my return.

[@jesusistheonlywaytoheavenj7880]

what is single/ married withhold at single rate...

[@TheTaxGeek]

That is with regard to selecting a filing status on your W4. If you are married, you can select the "single" status on your W4 and additional money will be withheld from your pay. This could be useful if you have additional income that is not subject to withholding, such as interest or capital gains, or if you want to compensate for the disparity between two spouse's incomes or between two jobs that pay differently. For more information on properly filling out a W4, check out this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nH7HiX57jc2qb7c

[@jesusistheonlywaytoheavenj7880]

@@TheTaxGeek Thanks for your response. I am married but living separately from my husband. He file's his taxes separately from me and we are not on speaking terms These are the options i am asked to choose from am not sure what to do choose * MARRIED * HEAD OF HOUSE HOLD * SINGLE/ MARRIED WITHHOLD HIGHER SINGLE RATE. I AM NOT SURE WHAT IS THE RIGHT ONE TO CHOOSE.👆

[@TheTaxGeek]

Choose the "Single" rate.

[@travisthompson4258]

I make the majority of the money in our household and for whatever reason when filing this year it shows that we would get an additional 1200 filing separately vs jointly. Is this common or do you think we have entered something in error causing this issue? I have always read that you get more tax breaks when filing jointly and should get a better return that way.

[@TheTaxGeek]

No, it is very rare.Carefully review your entries; make sure each one is properly allocated to the "taxpayer" (the first person listed on the return) and "spouse." One possibility is that your incomes are so disparate that you didn't get a stimulus payment based on your joint income, but your wife would receive a Recovery Rebate Credit based on her income alone. Check the Recovery Rebate Credit towards the end of the return to see if that's the case. If that's the case, go for the two returns if it would benefit you. But you might run the situation by a qualified tax professional to make sure you haven't missed anything.

[@travisthompson4258]

@@TheTaxGeek thank you for your help! It is much appreciated 👍

[@Kgist1]

What about if I’m filing married but separate and we share children. I made more but I want my husband to file his step child (my daughter) and our two children. Can he do that?

[@TheTaxGeek]

Yes he can. When you married, your children became his children for tax purposes. But why aren’t you filing together?

[@anitaginigeme]

What filing option would you recommend to get lower deductions and a potentially bigger refund if you're a US Citizen who got married in the middle of the year to someone who is a non resident alien (lives and works abroad). Thank you @thetaxgeek

[@TheTaxGeek]

Married filing jointly would give you a larger standard deduction, but your spouse would have to declare his worldwide income and pay U.S. taxes on it (although he would get credit for any foreign taxes he paid on that income). This would probably offset the benefit of a larger standard deduction.

[@nitarrh]

@@TheTaxGeek thanks for your response. So, they would have to pay taxes on income they earned working for a foreign entity outside the US and with no association with the US? That does not seem fair. Seems like separate filing is the way to go.

[@LACoEMT]

I usually file my taxes online, I’m a newly wed, married on November 2022, I noticed the return difference is a lot more than filing separately, question is, do we file under my wife’s new last name or her maiden name? Just curious because she has my last name via marriage certificate but she hasn’t changed it on her ID yet or her other documents? Thanks for the video, it was very helpful

[@TheTaxGeek]

You're very welcome and congratulations on your recent marriage! You need to file under whatever name she has on file with the Social Security Administration, which is probably her maiden name.

[@blixasice]

My wife and I are separated this year. We have 2 kids. How do we share tax credit for the kids?

[@TheTaxGeek]

As usual, it depends. Are you and your wife legally separated, or will you be as of the last day of the year? If you are not legally separated, you are still considered married for tax purposes and must file as either MFJ or MFS. If you file separately, as long as you agree who claims what child (or children), the IRS usually doesn't get involved. If you can't agree, the IRS can get involved and they will apply their "Tie Breaker Rules" detailed in another video. But that is just for the Child Tax Credit. Other benefits, such as Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status, and Child and Dependent Care credit, depend on other factors that take into account where the child lived, and who supported the household where the child lived. If you file MFJ, you claim both children on the return, and you can decide between yourselves how to split any refund or balance due.

[@yuseong__2562]

I hope you read this ! I'm in a complex tax situation, I am a waitress and this tax return I owe a little over $3k because supposedly of my dependents & not enough taxes was taken out throughout 2021, anyways long story short. Can I file my taxes separately from my husband and use a possible return to pay my spouse's tax liability? Once I added my spouse's w2 information, I ended up owing instead of receiving.

[@TheTaxGeek]

You will almost always pay less tax overall if you file jointly over separately. The reason you had a refund coming before you entered your husband's income was that you set the return up for a married couple filing jointly and only entered one income, thus taking advantage of the higher standard deduction and lower tax rates of a married filing joint return. If you create two separate returns, each set up as married filing separately you'll most likely find that the bottom lines of both returns, taken together, are higher than the joint return with both your incomes. To address your other problem. I currently have a new video in production that addresses W4 Forms and the proper way for married couples to fill them out to avoid balance due issues such as yours. Look for it in a few days.

[@yuseong__2562]

So you suggest us still file married jointly or separately? Will it affect any of us in any way to file separately? Affect us for example owing taxes in the long run?

[@TheTaxGeek]

I am not in a position you advise you to file your taxes one way or another. I would suggest you work it out both ways, and choose the way that costs you the least. If you have trouble doing that, a qualified tax professional in your community should be able to easily evaluate your situation, and advise you of the correct path.

[@arhini7918]

Great segment! I have a question: what if you remarry, claim the child when filing jointly, and are both are obligated to disclose if the husband and the (new) wife received child care tax credit, when only one has...Do you enter $1500 for the dad and $0 for the new wife? Please advise and Thanks!!

[@TheTaxGeek]

You would enter whatever the husband and the new wife received, and you should receive the full credit less the husband's advance payment. If the "old" wife received payments, she might have to repay them unless she claims children of her own, or her income is relatively low. For more details, you can check out this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipC6mouud6mrpLM if you haven't already.

[@MarianneRogersOfficial]

We filed as married jointly even if my husband declared that I'm not earning (I work as a Freelance Website Designer). Will there be problems on processing with the spusal visa? Me (Filipino citizen) and my husband (American citizen) are currently living in Mexico as temporary residents and 2021 & 2022 he was mostly outside in the US. We used Turbotax on filing our taxes and they asked me to file W9 form which I have mostly read in the posts to file w7 ( I'm not sure which one). We already filed our taxes and ready to sent the forms and some of my identification info this week. I don't know what's the difference between w7 and w9

[@TheTaxGeek]

A W7 is a request for in Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN). A W9 is a request for a Tax Identification Number that is used by people to obtain another person's SSN, ITIN, or EIN (Employer Identification Number) so that they can issue that person a 1099 if needed. For example, if you, as a freelance designed engaged a subcontractor to assist you, you would obtain a W9 from that person so that you could issue them a 1099 Form which would allow you to deduct the subcontractor payment from your income. Since you filed jointly, you must already have an ITIN, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to do so, so there should be no need to file either of these forms right now.

[@MarianneRogersOfficial]

@@TheTaxGeek I don't have ITIN either. We hired Turbotax to do the our taxes and talked to an accountant which I am really concerned about this.

[@katemmart]

Married filing separately is very common for Americans living over seas with nra spouses. I don't blame Mt husband for not wanting to involve himself in the US tax system.

[@TheTaxGeek]

Yes, it's one of the few times when MFS makes practical sense.