Does the income distribution between spouses matter when filing jointly?

[llazos]

We are a couple filing jointly and have 4 W-2. I accidentally added one of my W2s as my wife's. When I corrected the designation, turbotax changed the refund amount by over $2000. Any idea why? In my view, what matters for filing jointly is the total income and the total tax paid. Any reason why the distribution would matter?

[VolvoGirl · Accepted solution]

Yes.  You have to enter each W2 under the right spouse.  When you entered yours under her it thought that she had paid in too much Social Security tax and gave the excess back.  Good thing you caught it. 

For 2018, If you had more than one employer and  the total of box 4 (only box 4 not box 6) on all your 2018 W2s  for Social Security is more than $7,960.80 you get the excess back on your tax return.  And it is for each spouse separately, not combined.  

[VolvoGirl]

And there are other credits that need the income assigned to the right person.  

[llazos]

Thank you so much. This makes total sense. Essentially the SSN excess was assigned as a refund.