File separate or together

[Dtristan89]

Should my spouse and I file together, separate or as a depdendant? He works full time and I’ve been working part time. He makes around 60k a year, and I 40k a year, I claim child care expenses and have education stuff to claim. What makes more sense

[xmasbaby0]

A spouse can NEVER be claimed as a dependent.

If you were legally married at the end of 2024 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately.

Married Filing Jointly is usually better, even if one spouse had little or no income. When you file a joint return, you and your spouse will get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $29,200 (+$1500 for each spouse 65 or older)  for 2024. You are eligible for more credits including education credits, earned income credit, child and dependent care credit, and a larger income limit to receive the child tax credit. 

If you choose to file married filing separately, both spouses have to file the same way—either you both itemize or you both use standard deduction. Your tax rate will be higher than on a joint return.

 Some of the special rules for filing separately include: you cannot get earned income credit, education credits, adoption credits, or deductions for student loan interest. A higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. Your limit for SALT (state and local taxes and sales tax) will be only $5000 per spouse. In many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit. The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be affected. If you live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional information regarding your spouse’s income. ( Community property states:  AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI)

 If  you are using online TurboTax to prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay twice since with online, you get one return per fee.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separ...

[DoninGA]

When you are legally married a spouse can never be a dependent.

You should be filing as Married Filing Jointly even if one spouse has little or no income.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for filing jointly versus separately - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/better-married-couple-file-join...

[KarenL4]

Hi, Dtristan89,

That can be a complicated question, made more complicated in certain circumstances (like community property states).  Luckily, TurboTax has done a great article on filing separately (MFS) or jointly.  It covers reasons you might want to file separately, and also some of the potential tax benefits you lose if you file separately when married (certain tax benefits are not available to those selecting the MFS filing status). I don't know what state(s) you file in, but you should be aware that there are specific rules for how you split income in community property states.  This article gives you more detail on that.

Whether or not you are someone's dependent is not a question of preference, rather it is a question of tax law.  Here is an article that reviews the requirements for being a dependent. This publication does a deeper dive and you can always return here with follow up questions.

One thing to be aware of when married is the W4 (which is submitted to your employer and governs withholding) had some changes in the not too distant past.  This article gives you some key heads up to consider.  Remember, any changes you make now will only impact the future and won't correct for any past withholding discrepancies (if any).

Hope this helps.

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Regards,

Karen

TurboTax Expert

[mmaherTE]

When you file married filing separately there are certain credits that you become ineligible for.  Another important point is that if one of your itemizes the other has to itemize also, which can create a larger taxable income for the spouse that doesn't wish to itemize.  

In most cases you will not be able to take the credit for child and/or dependent care and the amount you can exclude if you get dependent care benefits on your W2 goes down to $2500 from $5000.  You will not be eligible for the earned income credit, any education credits including credit for tuition or student loan interest deduction.  In addition your standard deduction goes from $27700 down to $13850.  

In general, filing separately from your spouse results in higher tax liability.  There are specific situations where it is done but it generally results in a less favorable tax outcome for you because your tax rate is high filing separately than filing jointly. 

People with student loan debt trying to qualify for income driven repayment plans will sometimes file separately from their spouse for that reason, regardless of the tax outcome.  That is a specific situation where the consideration is the total income and not the tax rate.  

[mmaherTE]

I am following up on my previous answer because I noticed something about your question I did not address.  I see in your question you were asking whether you should file jointly, separately or as a dependent.  You are not able to claim a spouse as a dependent.  The filing status choices for married people are married filing jointly or married filing separately.  There are other choices if you are married but not living together but that does not seem to be the case here.