hayodksd t1_j24ci16 wrote on December 29, 2022 at 3:56 PM

Whats the question? The only way to lower your taxable income is trough traditional 401k, IRA, HSA or FSA and a couple other benefits that are pre-tax. Since you said you aren’t interested in retirement investing, I don’t see how you are going to be able to lower your taxable income by much.

AssociationCrazy5551 OP t1_j24dl0m wrote on December 29, 2022 at 4:03 PM

Okay thank you. I was curious if there's a way to lower it based on being a home owner, having kids, or investing in real estate. On a side note, is there any benefit to filing jointly now that my income is way higher? We have been filing separately because we don't really see the benefits of filing jointly. I mess around with stocks and crypto, she doesn't want to get involved with any of that.

hayodksd t1_j24ei3u wrote on December 29, 2022 at 4:09 PM

Mortgage interest, dependents and investing in real estate (depending) will help, absolutely, but won’t be the same as for example, doing the max amount ($20k) in traditional 401k. Filling jointly will also be better for both of you, since the deduction will be higher. With the mortgage interest, dependents it will lower your standard deduction and you will have a higher refund, depending on how you manage your W2. Filing jointly has more benefits than disadvantages.