The combined separately status is actually just married filing separately with both returns on the same form for convenience. There are a lot of deductions that you do not get when filing separately that are available when filing jointly. I'm not sure which ones you lose but clearly you lose some.
Delaware is weird in that filing combined separate is usually better than joint (usually being key there) as long as both spouses have over $9400 in taxable Delaware income. Your example didn't have that. If the example is similar to your real numbers then filing joint was definitely the right choice for you.
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
