Filling Separate or Joint

[emosner]

My husband and I have always filed joint. I am wondering if we should be filing separately because my husband make more money than I do, he falls into the 22% tax bracket and I fall into the 12% tax bracket. Can we change this year and if we were to file separate would that make us more likely to be audited? Will we loose on deductions? or will we not be saving any money by filing separate? Thanks

[xmasbaby0]

If you were legally married at the end of 2019 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 $24,400 (+$1300 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]

normally it's a bad idea to file separate.  there are a number of deductions you lose if you file separate.  

The standard deduction is more valuable when you file together.  that is because your half of the standard deduction saves you 12% of your income and his half saves him 22% if his income.  but if it is joint, then the TOTAL standard deduction saves both of you 22% of HIS income which is a bigger savings. 

you can try to figure it out both ways, but 96% of married couples file married-joint.  The rules are just set up to motivate the behavior that way and it has to be an unusual situation that compels separate filing