Hi Chris1204!
To answer your first question about whether you need to pay quarterly estimates, keep in mind that estimates are just another way to pay your taxes if you don't have enough taxes paid in through withholding. Since you have a W-2 job, you have the option to pay your taxes 1) through withholding, 2) by making estimates, or 3) a combination of both. So you don't HAVE to make quarterly estimates, but you'll want to be sure that you have enough taxes paid, either from withholding or estimated payments, so that you don't owe when you file your return.
On your W-4, you can indicate if you have additional income that you need to calculate withholding for. You would add that amount in Step 4 on the W-4, which would increase that taxes withheld from each paycheck.
For your second question, whether you live together with your husband will determine whether filing separately may help you. You mention that your husband lives in a nursing home. If you lived together for any part of the year, there is a special IRS rule for couples choosing to file Separately that makes 85% of his SSDI taxable, which removes the incentive for MFS.
But, if you lived apart for the entire year and the SSDI is his only income, he would not owe any tax on the SSDI by filing Separately. However, your standard deduction would be half of what it would be filing Jointly. You may want to use our Tax Calculator to do some "What If" scenarios and see if filing separately will save you tax overall.
Thank you for being a TurboTax customer!
Kimberly, CPA for over 30 years
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