Hi, first off, I would like to thank you all for your responses.
1. We may end up doing married filing jointly. However, if we do that, due to our differing wages, I will not know how much I am entitled to as a refund based on my sole wages if done jointly. It would be the equivalent of extracting separate ingredients from a baked cake. So, in the past, we have done varying scenarios. Both filing separately, jointly, one with one child, one with both, etc....trying to see what will benefit us most.
In times past, the wife has owed while I had not owed (filing separately), so when we filed together, I knew how much I had helped her with due to me filing jointly with her instead of separate. It is more of an exercise in how much I technically lay claim to and how much my wife can lay claim to. If she argues she has claim to 100% of a refund, I could bring up figures saying, well, if I had had filed separately this is how much I would get. Not that we have that problem but it does not hurt to have proper figured on hand of varying scenarios. Conversely, if she owed and we file jointly, I don't want to be liable for 100% of the owed amount, especially if I would have been entitled to a refund filing separately.
So in this exercise, I start off with no dependents, filing separate but Turbo Tax forces me to file itemized because my wife will key in such itemization. Which is fine, but although I personally am not keying in any itemization, my refund jumps from 704 to 1,579 in changing from STD to itemized. I see no legitimate reason for the jump, unless I am missing something.
