Taxes filing married or seprate

[dreamin_disney]

Got married last year so i have a few tax questions. We dont go to our tax guy until Friday.

1. is it true once you file married you can never file seprate?

2. what are the benefits of filing married? Dh made about $57,000 and i made $11,000. In the past I've recieved single $250-$350 back and dh recieved a total of $7,000 back. He claims the house and dd. Would it be best to file seperate or married. I think keep it the same because it will be more money earned combined dh said it might benefit us more. What do you think?

3. What are you doing with your tax returns?
dh and I plan on starting our emergency fund. a lil towards a vacation but we will save the majority of it. And i also want to put a big chunk aside because my job will have more cuts and I should be ok but ya never know. Plus we would like to have another baby so having saved money would be good.

I know no one can answer my question 100% correctly but just want to know of your experiences married /seperate. Thanks

 

[Lisa_M]

You have to file Married if you are, but you do "Married filing jointly" or "Married filing separate." You can figure your taxes both ways, but you will likely have more tax liability each filing separate than jointly. That is how it is for us. There are certain credits and deductions you do not qualify for if you are married filing separate. I'm not sure what type of situation it would benefit the person to file separate, probably just in case of a legal separation or pending divorce.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Unless there are exceptional reasons, Married Filing Joint is the best way to go. Especially if there is a large difference in income. With the numbers you show, MFJ you would be in the 15% bracket together but MFS you would be in the 10% while he would be in the 25%.

If you file Married Filing Separate and one person itemizes, then the other must also itemize.

Only once was it worthwhile for me to use MFS; in that instance my wife had very high dental bills and if we had filed MFJ the medical deductions floor would have been about $6,000 higher than it was. And I was able to move other itemized deductions around so that we both ended up in the same tax bracket.

Mike (CPA Retired)(But still doing taxes professionally)