2022 Taxes

[Biker2chef]

I was wondering why when I do my taxes and say I'm single I get money back, and when I do my wife's taxes and say she is single, she gets money back, but when I do the taxes and file together or say were married, we owe thousands of dollars?

[xmasbaby0]

What do you mean "single?"     If you were married at the end of the tax year, filing as "Single" is not an option for you.   

If you were legally married at the end of 2022 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 $25,900 (+$1400 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...

[NCperson]

@Biker2chef 

1) we can't see how you did your 'what if' analysis, but probably something was done incorrectly.  A married couple is typically  going to pay less in tax than two indiviudals filing as single individuals.  The larger the difference in their incomes, the larger the tax difference should be. 

if you want to post the particulars of each income, I can figure out what the issue is. 

2) as noted by others, since you are legally married, your only filing options are a) Married- filing Joint and b) Married - Filing Separate.  96% of married couples file joint because the laws motivate that behavior.  Congress passes tax laws that protect the sanctity of marriage, i.e. they don't pass laws that incent people not to marry or not to file Joint.