My husband social security

[mlindley19]

Married filing separately husband has social security disability 20112.00  and w-2 for 1056 and he paid 44 in taxes and just need to know if my husband also has to report my income.

I am doing his filing and mine separately.  If I do it together it takes into consideration my income and takes some of my return away.

when I do it separately he gets his 44 dollars fed tax back from that job.

Biggest question cause I am not understanding exactly does he somehow put my income on his taxes too besides me doing mine?

[xmasbaby0]

Are you in a community property state?  

AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI

If I am filing a separate return why do I have to list my spouse’s information on my return?

Even if you file separate returns (the worst way to file) you each have to list each other's SSN's and some other information on your own tax return.  The IRS can then cross check to make sure you are not "double dipping" for itemized deductions, dependents, etc.

Why are you filing separate returns?  That is usually the worst way to file----and it will make more of your spouse's SS taxable.

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...

If you are in a community property state, there is more information that will be needed.

Community property states:  AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI

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

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/marriage/five-tax-tips-for-community-property-states/L4jG7cq7Z

[VolvoGirl]

Depends what state you are in.  If you are in a community property state then you have to include half of the other spouse income.  You should file a Joint return, you might be doing your separate returns wrong.  Joint should be the best way to file.

Here's some things to consider about filing separately……

In the first place you each have to file a separate return, so that's two returns.  And if you are using the Online version that means using 2 accounts and paying the fees twice.  

Many people think they come out better when filing Married Filing Separate but they are probably doing it wrong.  If one person itemizes deductions on Schedule A then the other one must itemize too, even if it's less than the standard deduction, even if it is ZERO!  And if you are in a Community Property state it can be complicated to figure out.

And there are several credits you can't take when filing separately, like the

EITC Earned Income Tax Credit

Child Care Credit

Educational Deductions and Credits

And contributions to IRA and ROTH IRA are limited when you file MFS.

Also if you file Married Filing Separately up to 85`% of your Social Security becomes taxable right away even with zero other income.

See …….

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/married/help/is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-...

[xmasbaby0]

And.....did you enter the SSA1099?  You have to enter it.

To enter your retirement income, Go to  Federal> Wages and Income>Retirement Plans and Social Security>IRA  401 k) Pension Plan Withdrawals to enter your 1099R.

[mlindley19]

I got my answer.  YES its best for our situation to file separately because all we have is his ss and my w2 and I get more back and he gets his 44 dollars back from his one lil job he did.  we are both in our 50s but he is getting ss disability.   His tax forms dont include my income as I am filing mine alone.    I did the taxes both ways and it was better to do separately.  Maybe in the future we will have to do it together but we are not getting anything special or extra and we dont have anything different  we have simple taxes.  just wages health and taxes thats it.  I just needed to know if I had to include my wage amount on his tax and the answer is no I file mine separately.  YAY.

[mlindley19]

Yes I did and I did it online tax service that the IRS has and he gets his 44 dollars in fed tax that was taken from his W2 wage of 1056 that he made last year.   YAY.  He also gets his 42 in state taxes back too.

[VolvoGirl]

You never said what state.  And his Social Security will be taxable on his return even if he has no other income.  

[mlindley19]

OOPS its Michigan and the online tax thing did add it to the state tax and he is getting his 44 dollars back from his job.  thats it.

[mlindley19]

just so you know after doing the form for Social security it came to 9400 and then you take the deduction of 12500 and it becomes 0 so no taxes on his social security.  so the tax he paid to fed and state all come back to him which is only 44 dollars and 42 dollars state.  once the amount gets higher then we might have to do joint.  So I just talked with H&R block and they went through this with me and said we probably best to do separate this year. YAY.  Hope this helps someone.