Separate Income for Filing Jointly

[treegirl]

The program does not allow us to have separate income.  It places my inheritance capital gains in my husband's income, so that his adjusted  gross income is over the limit for IRA deductions and for deductible contributions.

We can't find a way to separate our incomes.

Can anyone advise me?

[DianeW777 · Accepted solution]

You cannot separate your income on a joint return.  You can try to file separately to see if the tax is lower limits will be in place if you lived together during the year.  Based on your income level, filing jointly is likely your best scenario.

• IRA Contribution and Income Limits for Deduction (if in a covered plan at work)

[treegirl]

Thank you Diane!

We tried filing separately, and as you said, filing jointly is still the right way.

I went ahead and contributed $7,000 to my IRA, and it helped our bottom line.

The only thing about doing this is, the money was already taxed, so I'll have to pay the regular tax on withdrawals when I do so in the future.

With Appreciation,

Kathleen

[MarilynG1]

Since you got a tax break for contributing to the IRA, the money is not being taxed (your contribution is subtracted from your gross income).  You are correct that tax will be due when withdrawals are taken.

Here's more info on IRA Contributions.

@treegirl