Filing Married Jointly or Separately

[TxsAurora20]

Got married in 2020.  My property is under my name only.  I have $10,500 in mortgage interest.  My husband and I did not have a joint account in 2020.  He simply transfers money to me regularly.  Not sure if filing married/separately will do any good. 

[Mike9241 · Accepted solution]

probably a joint return is best.   the standard deduction for a single individual is $12,200 this doubles when filing a joint return.  the issue if married filing separate is that both must use the same method for deductions - either itemized or standard.  so if your combined itemized deductions are less the $24,400, your likely to be better off with the joint option

[xmasbaby0]

The mortgage being in only your name would have no effect on the results of a joint return.  And there are a LOT of disadvantages to filing separate returns.

If you were legally married at the end of 2020 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 $24,800 (+$1300 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.

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...

[TxsAurora20]

Thank you very much.