Filing as a Married Couple

AveekDutta — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 22:43:48 GMT

Hi, I got married in July of 2025. My question is do I and my wife need to file our 2025 tax return as "married filing jointly" or can we choose "married filing separately". If both options are available, is there a resource where I can understand the pros and cons of each choice.

Re: Filing as a Married Couple

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 22:45:24 GMT

If you were legally married at the end of 2025 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately when you prepare your 2025 return.

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 $31,500 (+ $1600 for each spouse 65 or older) for 2025. 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 disadvantages of filing separately include:

You cannot get earned income credit,

You cannot get education credits or deductions for student loan interest.

You cannot get the childcare credit

You have a lower amount of income on which to base the refundable additional child tax credit

85% of your Social Security benefits will be taxable even with no other income

The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be limited.

Capital loss deduction is less than if you file jointly

You cannot get the $6000 senior deduction

You cannot get the deductions for overtime or tips

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) and your returns become very complicated.

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-separately/L7gyjnqyM?srsltid=AfmBOopGqCNexowW0pYgvsf7ycIkrx4VjO_63UXv6vSnfu3UEGQiKQTh

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/income/getting-married-mean-taxes/L2RgmagpE_US_en_US?uid=m69on7t0

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/married-filing-separately-community-property/L11CeLUMs_US_en_US?uid=m69ousyh

Re: Filing as a Married Couple

AveekDutta — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:34:53 GMT

I have a follow up question. If we file under "married filing separately" for 2025, can we change to "married filing jointly" for 2026 and beyond?

Re: Filing as a Married Couple

DawnC — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:36:15 GMT

Yes, as long as you remain married. Each tax year is its own return.

topic Filing as a Married Couple in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Filing as a Married Couple

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Re: Filing as a Married Couple