Does it matter who makes income if filing jointly?

byufdr4 · ‎February 23, 2021

When I was entering W2's I accidentally had told Turbotax that is was my wife's W2.

Later I saw that and changed it to me, but when I changed that W2 to be mine my refund went down by about $700. I would think if I am married filing jointly it wouldn't matter whose name it is assigned to to calculate taxes.

She also had a W2 but she works part time and makes a fraction of what is on my W2. Out of curiosity I actually changed both her W2 and my W2 to my name and again I got the higher refund amount.

So it's only when I assign the W2's to the right person that my refund goes down. Does that make sense?

macuser_22 · ‎February 23, 2021

Yes that can happen because the amount of Social Security and Medicare tax withheld would all go to one spouse and could result in a refund of the excess. When properly assigned to the correct spouse there is no excess and no refund of excess.

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**

VolvoGirl · ‎February 23, 2021

Yes probably because of excess Social Security tax in box 4.

For 2020 the max for Social Security is $8,537.40 on $137,700 of wages PER PERSON. If you entered both your and her W2s under the same name then box 4 was more than the max.

Does it matter who makes income if filing jointly?

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