wanttostayhidden t1_j24gdhk wrote on December 29, 2022 at 4:22 PM

>We both contribute the minimums to our 401k

If you both start maxing your pre-tax 401k contributions, that will lower your taxable income by around 40k. I'm not sure why you wouldn't take full advantage of that.

Also, out of curiosity, why do you file separately? In most cases, filing jointly is usually the better option.

AssociationCrazy5551 OP t1_j24h4v6 wrote on December 29, 2022 at 4:27 PM

I had a tax scare a couple years ago where the IRS sent me a cp2000 for unreported crypto trades from 2017. Since I never sent a cost basis the bill was over a million dollars. I learned all about 1099s after that and fixed the situation myself, but she's still unwary to file with me.

Now that our incomes vary greatly, I think it's time to start looking into filing jointly