Married filing jointly vs Married Filing Seperate - Pros & Cons?

[alekceu11]

Hi, would like guidance on which is the better option - Married Filing Jointly vs Married Filing Separately. Thank you very much in advance. I have the PC TurboTax Premier Version.

Our situation:

No Kids

We did not go to college, do not have student loans

Wife did not work (only doordash $700 income)

I worked full-time, W-2 employer, $94k income

We rent apartment in NJ, do not own any rentals/farms/other property, own 1 vehicle

I did not have HSA/FSA, I did have $4000 Lasik treatment in 2021

Paid $3000 for green card process for wife (is any part reimbursable?) 

I did minor stock trading, no crypto (less than 4000 gains)

[ErnieS0]

TurboTax has a What-If Worksheet in the PC version where you can do a comparison.

1. Type Forms in the top right
2. Tap Open Form at the top of the left column
3. Type What-if in the search box and selection What-If Worksheet and open form
4. Check MJJ vs MFS: Perform married filing joint versus married filing separate comparison
5. Tap Step-by-Step in the top right when you are done to get back to the interview mode

You can probably better off filing together based on the information provided because your wife's income is less than her half of the married standard deduction ($25,100).

[SweetieJean]

In general, you must use the same filing status in NJ as you do for Federal purposes.   I agree that Joint is likely better for you.

[Critter-3]

Since your spouse had little to no income then filing JOINTLY is the only way to file ... not doing so will cost you a lot in taxes for the unused standard deduction she would leave on the table.