topic Married filing separately in Deductions & credits

Married filing separately

tcorriveau — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 12:37:32 GMT

My husband and I have compared married filing jointly and married filing separately. If we filing a joint return we owe $1,200; however, if we file separate returns taking the standard deduction one receives a return of $5,000 and the other owes $2,000.

Can we file separately to take advantage of the $5,000 return to pay the amount owed and come on top with the remainder?

Re: Married filing separately

Critter-3 — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 12:46:05 GMT

You can always choose to file separately however BEFORE you file either return REVIEW them both carefully for accuracy since what you are describing doesn't sound normal so I think you may have made an error. Remember if one of you itemizes you both must itemized (make sure you split the deductions) and the same with the standard deduction.

Re: Married filing separately

tcorriveau — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 12:51:04 GMT

Thank you. I have completed both ways several times using different software and they come out the same. Itemizing both results in more taxes be paid by both; whereas, taking the standard deduction results in my scenario.

I claimed single no dependents for the entire year. My spouse claimed married with 1 dependent. Two of his part-time jobs didn’t take out taxes except for the additional $10 per check he requested.