@donutheist - what you are proposing doesn't work, that is why you can't figure out how to do it in TT.
You are legally married so your only choice is filing MFJ or MFS.
There is no such thing as "alimony' because you are legally married.
And in any event, even if you were divorced, only alimony paid on divorces finalized prior to 2019 are tax deductible (and income to the recipient).
If you earned the money and file Separate, you are paying the tax on it. There is no way to get your spouse to pay the tax (other than netting the payments to her to reflect the taxes you have to pay).
The laws favor married couples as Congress passes laws that protect the sactimony of marriage. 96% of married couples file "joint". @VolvoGirl points out some of the preferences that are lost by filing MFS. It is abhorently a bad decision when the two individual's income vary significantly.
I have yet to find a financial situation where it makes sense for a married couple, regardless of the emotional state of their marriage, to file Separate.
I suspct the last 4% are either situations where two people can't agree to sign the Joint return (the emotional issues) or naiviety (and I've run into Newlyweds who thingk filing separate is the way to go).
are there children involved?
