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Jojoharve
New Member

Filing

I don’t have any W2 but my wife does. How can she file head of household. Do she has to start another account, because she was my dependent in 2023. 

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2 Replies
MinhT1
Employee Tax Expert

Filing

Unfortunately, the IRS does not allow you to claim your spouse as a dependent on a return, even if you completely supported her. So your wife cannot be your dependent.

 

If you are married, she cannot file as Head of Household. You two should file Married Filing Jointly.

 

The good news is that you are still able to file a joint return with her, even if one spouse had no income. For a joint return for tax year 2024, the standard deduction is $29,200 while on a Single status return, the standard deduction is only $14,600.   By including her on the return as your spouse, you will have a higher standard deduction.  This will help you to pay less taxes.

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Filing

  If you are married and living together, neither one of you files as Head of Household.  You file a joint return.   By filing a  joint return, more of your income is "tax free" because the standard deduction is higher.   You can file a joint return even if one spouse had little or no income.

 

 

If you were legally married at the end of 2024 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 $29,200 (+ $1550 for each spouse 65 or older)  for 2024. 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://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/marriage/should-you-and-your-spouse-file-taxes-jointly-or-separ...

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/income/getting-married-mean-taxes/L2Rgma...

 

 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/married-filing-separately-commu...

 

**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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