MiriamF
Intuit Alumni

Get your taxes done using TurboTax

No, you don't need to change the order in which your names are listed based upon income, but keep reading.

The IRS doesn't care who goes first on the tax return, as long as you use the same order every year.

Tax data is stored by the first person listed on the return. It doesn't matter who earned the income.

If your name is first this year, but your husband's is first next year, you will get a letter from the IRS next year asking why you haven't filed. Plus, if you need to get info about a prior year return, you won't have to wonder who went first that year, because you will only be able to retrieve the return based upon the taxpayer who is primary (listed first).