Married Filing jointly or separately?

[Singlow19]

I have taxes that I owe on (about $2800) from previous years.  I just got married. Should I file jointly or separately from my husband? I make significantly more than he does...I make about $95k and he makes about $26k. I also get to claim my son this year and he will not claim his children.

[SwapnaM]

@Singlow19 Thanks For the question!! Congratulations on your marriage!! 

Generally, filing jointly (one tax return instead of two) will give you a bigger refund or less taxes due. You can compare your estimated taxes for filing jointly vs. separately with TaxCaster.

When you file separately, your tax rate is higher and you won't be able to claim:

• Education benefits
• Earned Income Credit (EIC)
• Child and Dependent Care Credit (usually)
• Adoption Credit (usually)
• The standard deduction if your spouse is claiming itemized deductions
• The full benefit for itemized deductions, the Child Tax Credit, and capital losses (you'll get only half compared to married filing jointly)

Why would I want to file separately?

The main reason you'd want to file separately is to protect yourself from inaccurate tax information reported by your spouse, or in cases where your spouse refuses to file a joint return (or refuses to file, period) and you don't want to get in trouble.

When you file separately, your refund can't be seized to pay off your spouse's debts. However, filing jointly as an innocent or injured spouse can head off refund seizures as well. You can file married filing jointly & make sure you spouse files the FORM 8379 for Injured spouse to get back your portion of a refund from a jointly-filed tax return if it's seized or offset to pay your debt.. How do I file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation?