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SpiritualCatch6757 t1_jadobjc wrote

Your filing status is as of Dec 31, 2022. Thus you either filing married filing jointly or married filing separately. In most cases but not all jointly results in lower taxes.

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HauntingHarmonie t1_jaennc2 wrote

Important caveat: if you are on income-based student loan repayments and your income will be higher combined, you might consider filing separately.

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iEngineer9 t1_jaesvom wrote

This comes as a surprise to a lot. In some cases, such as the Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) payment plan, it doesn’t matter if you file separately or jointly, they still add up all household income.

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magikatdazoo t1_jaezrui wrote

Student Loan Repayment Plans definitely overdue for reform. Not the topic of this thread, just that folks need to read all the microscopic print carefully with them.

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HauntingHarmonie t1_jaet1w4 wrote

Yup... my husband had to sign my forms and he's not even from the US!

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TenarAK t1_jaewrhq wrote

Same. I am required to go through and sign my husband’s forms and he has to report our household income. The real PIA is that they don’t take into account the child and her childcare.

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magikatdazoo t1_jaf04uy wrote

Right it may make sense for OP to file "married filing separately," but the option is that or "married filing jointly." Do the math, just don't try and do "Single" unless want Uncle Sammy pounding your ass with his IRS boots

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hndjbsfrjesus t1_jae9my8 wrote

We calculate it both ways, i.e. Married Filing Separately and Married Filing Jointly, and pick which is more favorable. After a few times through this, we determined the headache wasn't worth the slight difference in taxes and just file jointly.

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magikatdazoo t1_jaezkqx wrote

This is the answer. Stop scrolling. OP CAN'T file as single, not eligible.

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TeignmouthElectron t1_jae3olb wrote

That’s not true. Married filing separately you get the exact same tax credits just divided by two. Things like tax credits for dependents, you need to choose on who’s tax return it makes the most sense to put it on.

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123456478965413846 t1_jaebc2x wrote

There are differences in certain situations.

If you file separately there are a few credits you cannot claim like the earned income tax credit, child and dependent care credit, and some education related credits. So if you would get those credits filing jointly is generally better than separately.

Also to claim medical expenses you need them to be more than 7.5% of agi. If one person has a bunch of medical expenses it might be more than 7.5% of their agi but not of the joint AGI. In that situation jointly might be better.

There are a ton of edge cases where one or the other is better. In most cases it should be the same or very close to the same, but sometimes there are large differences.

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peteb82 t1_jaebn8o wrote

MFS will phase you out of several things completely. Notably Roth IRA income limits are very harsh for MFS. It is almost never a better option.

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TeignmouthElectron t1_jaemqxr wrote

That one is particularly fucked up! What else does it phase you out of? I’ve reviewed for my personal case and found absolutely no difference. We both have small businesses as LLCs so it is cleaner to file separately, and had no loss in tax implications.

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