I've been doing my taxes on turbotax for a while as a single person with my account. I got married last year, do I use my current account or start a new account for us?

[laura-weng]

Or do we have 2 separate turbotax accounts with married status? If so, we would have to pay twice?!?Please advise. If we use my current account, does that mean he has access to see all my previous filings before we got married?

[xmasbaby0]

No your new spouse will not have access to your old records unless you provide your spouse with the user ID and password to the account.

To begin a new joint return on TurboTax:

You will not be able to merge two previous TT account to start your new joint return.  You can transfer ONE of your 2021 returns into a new 2022 return, so choose the most complicated one.  The other spouse’s information needs to be entered manually.

When you enter your own information in My Info, you have to answer the question "Were you married?"  If you click the button for Married, then a drop down will appear that asks, "Do you want to file this return together with your spouse?"  Then you choose yes to file a joint return.  You would then enter your spouse's information into My Info.  Whenever you are entering income information there should then be a spot for you and for your spouse's income information.  Income screens will have spots with each spouse’s name—be careful to enter under the correct names.

JOINT vs. SEPARATE RETURNS 2018 and beyond

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...

[DoninGA]

If you are going to be using the TurboTax online editions to file your tax return as Married Filing Jointly you should create a new online account for the tax return.  The new account will need a different User ID and password separate from your other online accounts.  You can use the same e-mail address for the new account that was used with the other online account if you want to do so.

You will still have access to the other online account but you should download a PDF and the tax data file from the other account for safe keeping.

You would only need to have two separate online accounts if for some reason you will be filing as Married Filing Separately.

[xmasbaby0]

When you prepare a joint return you include all the information for both spouses on the SAME tax return.  Include all of your personal information, all of your income from every source, all dependents (if any), all credits and deductions for both of you.  You get ONE refund with both names on it.

[Opus 17]

When you are married, you have the option of filing as married filing jointly or married filing separately.  You are not allowed to file as single.

Married filing jointly means you file one single tax return listing all your combined income, deductions, dependents and credits.  MFJ has the lowest overall tax rates and is usually the best way to file.  However, by agreeing to file jointly, both spouses are taking full financial responsibility for all the income and taxes, and if there is a problem later, the IRS can come after either spouse, even if the problem was the fault of the other spouse.

Married filing separately means each spouse files a separate tax return reporting only their own income, deductions and taxes.  MFS has the highest tax rates and some deductions and credits are reduced or disallowed, especially regarding retirement savings and child care.  However, by filing separately, each spouse is only responsible for their own tax return.  If spouses want to keep their finances separate, or one spouse is in some kind of financial or tax trouble, separate filing may be needed to keep the other spouse out of trouble.

If you want to file jointly, it is usually best to create a new Turbotax account and start from scratch.  It is possible to start with one person's single account and change that to married, but it will only contain that spouse's information and information from the other spouse must be added by hand, it can't be merged automatically.

If you want to file separately, you can keep your separate accounts, but if you use turbotax online, you will pay two separate fees.  If you buy the program on a CD or as a download to install on your own Mac or PC, you can prepare both returns from the same program. 

[VolvoGirl]

You should usually file a Joint return which is only 1 return combined for the both of you. Joint has the lowest tax rates and the highest Standard Deduction. And if you are in a Community Property state MFS gets tricky to figure out. Make sure to stick with this one account for the future. Just ignore the other spouse's account.

Getting Married FAQ
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-filing-status/help/what-does-getting-married-mean-for-my-taxes...

Tax info on getting married
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/marriage/getting-married/L0DvEUlEC

Did you both use Turbo Tax last year?

You can not transfer from or combine 2 returns or accounts. Just pick the return for the spouse that has the most complicated return to enter or has any depreciation or business or more investments. Or use the account/return for whoever you want to be listed first going forward (by the way you can not change the order of the names). Then add the other spouse's name, ssn and info to it.

But if you want to keep the prior accounts separate from the new Joint account then start a new account. Online is only good for one return per account. But you can use the same email address for 5 accounts.

How to start a new online return
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/using-turbotax/help/how-do-i-start-another-return-in-turbotax-onli...

The Desktop CD/Download can do unlimited returns and efile 5 for free
https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/cd-download