I am married and no children and my wife is house wife with no income. My wife and I filed tax jointly in the past but my wife has a student loan payment is getting high and I can’t afford to pay that amounts. She will apply for income based payments option and If we filed tax separately her student loan monthly payment will be affordable since she has no income. But if we file tax separately, will tax return amount still be same or different?please advise. Thank you
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Calculate it both ways--- we cannot say which will come out better for you. If you file MFS there is no deduction for student loan interest.
It is not easy to compare MFJ to MFS using online TT but you can do it. Since you only get one return for each account and user ID, you have to use 3 accounts and user ID’s—one for MFJ and two for each of the MFS returns. Compare, choose, and file—and pay—accordingly.
It is much easier to do this comparison using the desktop version of TT installed from a CD or downloaded to your own computer. You pay once for the software and you can prepare multiple returns easily, and it has a “what if” feature that allows comparisons that is found in Forms mode.
If you were legally married at the end of 2024 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 $29,200 (+ $1550 for each spouse 65 or older) for 2024. 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 since with online, you get one return per fee.
we have no way of knowing for certain, but in most cases MFS costs the taxpayers more in taxes.
MFS
lost credits - earned income credit,
student loan interest is not deductible
IRA contributions are phased out at $10K of modified AGI
possible AMT and other taxes.
the only way to know for sure is to prepare two returns (no return is required for your spouse since she has no income) this is difficult with online because only one return is allow per account. You would need to prepare both a joint return and a MFS return for yourself
Any additional taxes if MFS might be worth it if it saves a similar amount in student loan interest,
And...not to belabor the obvious----but if your wife has no income, what would she enter on income tax return?
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