Filing Jointly with wife

blade1106 · ‎May 31, 2019

why is it taking all of my refund away when I add my wife's W-2

bluedeb · ‎May 31, 2019

It depends on how much she made compared to how much taxes were taken out of her paycheck. Her income put you in a higher tax bracket. You could try filing separate to see if that helps

Filing separately with similar incomes

A couple may pay the IRS less by filing separately when both spouses work and earn about the same amount. When they compare the tax due amount under both joint and separate filing statuses, they may discover that combining their earnings puts them into a higher tax bracket. Their savings depends on a variety of other factors, however, including their investment situation and whether they have children. The "married filing separately" status cuts the deductions for IRA contributions and eliminates child tax credits, among other tax breaks.

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You can get a quick idea of what filing status would be better for you by using TurboTax's TaxCaster, enter your information as Married Filing Joint, then enter each of your own information as Married Filing Separate
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/

View solution in original post

bluedeb · ‎May 31, 2019

It depends on how much she made compared to how much taxes were taken out of her paycheck. Her income put you in a higher tax bracket. You could try filing separate to see if that helps

Filing separately with similar incomes

A couple may pay the IRS less by filing separately when both spouses work and earn about the same amount. When they compare the tax due amount under both joint and separate filing statuses, they may discover that combining their earnings puts them into a higher tax bracket. Their savings depends on a variety of other factors, however, including their investment situation and whether they have children. The "married filing separately" status cuts the deductions for IRA contributions and eliminates child tax credits, among other tax breaks.

------------------------------------------------------------------

You can get a quick idea of what filing status would be better for you by using TurboTax's TaxCaster, enter your information as Married Filing Joint, then enter each of your own information as Married Filing Separate
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/