I chose to not add my wife as a dependent and also accidentally chose that we did not live together from July 1-December 1, 2025. How do I change that?

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

If you are legally married as of 12/31/2025 , you cannot claim your spouse as a dependent.  You can only file as either Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately.  If you were living together at any time during the last six months of the year you cannot file as Head of Household.

To change your status click on My Info on the left side of the online program screen.  Edit your information.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

First of all---you can never claim that a spouse is your dependent.   You can file a joint return with a spouse, or you can file married filing separately.    Or....if you lived apart for the last six months of 2025 and you had custody of the children, you might be able to file as Head of Household.

The information that has you confused is all entered in MY IFO.

If you were legally married at the end of 2025 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately when you prepare your 2025 return.

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 $31,500 (+ $1600 for each spouse 65 or older)  for 2025. 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 disadvantages of filing separately include: 

You cannot get earned income credit, 

You cannot get education credits or deductions for student loan interest. 

You cannot get the childcare credit

You have a lower amount of income on which to base the refundable additional child tax credit

85% of your Social Security benefits will be taxable even with no other income 

The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be limited.

Capital loss deduction is less than if you file jointly

You cannot get the $6000 senior deduction

You cannot get the deductions for overtime or tips

 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) and your returns become very complicated.

 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.

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