FSA Account and Married Filing Separately

[iqvasya]

My wife lost her job in fall 2022, so to make sure any medical bills were handled, I opened an FSA through my employer. This was a regular FSA account, but I was told that my wife could use it, since we are married. I chose the maximum contribution and it got us through most of 2023.

Now, because of my wife's student loans, she was told that we would need to file separately, otherwise she would have to pay higher interest on her loans and her payments would be significantly higher (We are talking at least $500/month difference). Since my wife used my FSA for her eligible medical expenses in 2023, would we be allowed to file separately? Are there any drawbacks to filing separately, other than the standard, "If you are married, you should file together to save money"?

[Mike9241]

yes you can use your FSA to pay her medical expenses even if MFS.  The downside to MFS:

• Fewer tax deductions and credits available, such as student loan interest - none allowed), education expenses (no education credits), and retirement plan contributions
• Higher tax rates and more tax due
• Half of the standard deduction compared to married filing jointly (for MFS both must use the standard deduction or both must itemize) 
• $1,500 capital loss deduction limit per partner
• More complicated and costly tax filing process
• Individual responsibility for tax debt, penalties, and refunds

you really need to do a MFJ besides the two MFS to see if there is a real benefit to MFS. I would suggest one of the desktop apps since you can prepare the 3 returns for just one price and even do variations. you need a full PC or MAC and 64-bit operating system for windows - 10 or higher. Mac 

macOS Monterey 12 or later (macOS Big Sur 11 not supported)

Specific macOS: macOS Monterey 12, macOS Ventura 13, macOS Sonoma 14

[iqvasya]

Thanks, this is very informative. We were looking into either doing TurboTax Live Edition or going to a local Tax Professional to do it. My wife owns a small business and with such complicated return, we wanted to make sure a real person reviewed everything before we submit it.