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adamleev
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My wife and I split up halfway through the year. She moved out and got an apartment in July. How does her rent payments, and then the mortgage I paid, impact taxes?

 
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My wife and I split up halfway through the year. She moved out and got an apartment in July. How does her rent payments, and then the mortgage I paid, impact taxes?

If you were legally married at the end of 2023 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 get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $27,700 (+$1500 for each spouse 65 or older)  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, adoption credits, or deductions for student loan interest. A higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. Your limit for SALT (state and local taxes and sales tax) will be only $5000 per spouse. In many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit. The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be affected. If you live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional information regarding your spouse’s income. ( Community property states:  AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI)

 

 If  you are using online TurboTax to prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay twice since with online, you get one return per fee.

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separ...

 

 

 

 

You do not say if you are in a community property state.   It is more complicated if you are in one of those states.

 

As for her rent----rent is not deductible on a federal tax return.   Mortgage interest is deductible ---IF you itemize deductions.   But if you file MFS you have to determine if you are using standard deduction or itemizing.  The mortgage interest might not even be an issue.

**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.**
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