If you were married at the end of 2016 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 each receive the $4050 personal exemption, plus the married filing jointly standard deduction of $12,600 (add $1250 for each spouse over the age of 65). 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, or deductions for student loan interest. A higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. In many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit. If you live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional information regarding your spouse’s income. If you are using online TurboTax to prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay twice.
As for filing an itemized return vs. taking standard deduction:
Your itemized deductions have to be more than your standard deduction before you will see a change in your tax owed or tax refund. The deductions you enter do not necessarily count “dollar for dollar;” many of them are subject to meeting thresholds (for example: only the amount of your medical deductions that are over 10% of your AGI or over 7.5% if you are 65 or older are “counted”) or are calculated by a percentage of what you entered. The software program uses all the IRS rules that apply to the expenses you enter, and it tells you if you have enough to use your itemized deductions or if using the standard deduction is more advantageous for you. Here are the Standard Deductions for 2016
Your standard deduction lowers your taxable income. It is not a refund
2016 Standard Deductions
Single $6300 (65 or older + $1550)
Married Filing Separately $6300 (65 or older + $1250)
Married Filing Jointly $12,600 (65 or older + $1250@)
Head of Household $9250 (65 or older + $1550)
**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
