Married filing separately is better?

[kegan51]

I filled out Turbotax with Married Filing Jointly... Initially I do mine and my husband's separately to see if I or he owes anything and then I put them into one.

When I did filing jointly, there is an amount around $4k owed to Fed taxes.

I wanted to see what filing separately would do and so I changed the filing status to Married but filing separately and now it says there's only $773 owed and a refund from state.

I'm a little confused, all the information seems to be there, why would we owe less filing separately I thought Joint was better?

Can you simply switch the filing status in the way I did?

[DanielV01]

It depends.  It is optional for a married couple to file jointly or separately.  While joint filing is usually a more tax advantaged status, it is not always the case.

However, what you may be seeing is the system calculating the tax on just one of you.  It is possible that filing separate does reduce your individual tax due (or refund), but, when you combine the two filings (you filing separately and him fililing separately) the combined amount owed may be more than if you file joint.

Still it is your choice to file joint or separate, and this FAQ goes into what some of the differences are to each:  https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3288477