Married filing jointly

[devon_]

I work for a company and receive a W-2. My husband is a self-employed artist. We have to file jointly because if we were to file separately we would both have to itemize deductions, which doesn’t make sense for me, it’s better for me to take the standard deduction. When we enter things in as if filing single, my refund is more than what he owes, so why does my refund disappear when we file jointly? Shouldn’t my refund cover or cancel out what he owes?

[xmasbaby0]

No one can see your tax return.  We do not know any of the amounts you are entering.   If your spouse is self-employed he has to pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare as well as ordinary income tax, so the amount you had withheld from your W-2 wages might not be enough to "cover or cancel out" the tax owed.

And....you mention entering things as if you were filing as Single---- which is not the same as filing married filing separately.   Forget any results you get for a "single" filing status, since that does not apply to you.   Your choices are to file married filing jointly or married filing separately.

It is not easy to compare MFJ to MFS using online TT but you can do it.  Since you only get one return for each account and user ID, you have to use 3 accounts and user ID’s—one for MFJ and two for each of the MFS returns.  Compare, choose, and file—and pay—accordingly.

It is much easier to do this comparison using the desktop version of TT installed from a CD or downloaded to your own computer.  You pay once for the software and you can prepare multiple returns easily, and it has a “what if” feature that allows comparisons.

Perhaps it would be a good idea for your spouse to start making estimated quarterly tax payments for his self-employment income.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/self-employed/help/what-is-the-self-employment-tax/00/25922

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/import-export-data-files/enter-self-empl...

If you live in a state with a state income tax, you might need to make estimated payments to your state.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/small-business-taxes/the-home-office-deduction/L1RZyYxzv

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/self-employed/

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/business-taxes/discussion/self-employed-don-t-miss-these-tax-moves...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/import-export-data-files/enter-schedule-...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/payroll-additions-deductions/qualify-qua...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/self-employment-taxes/self-employed-expe...

[Vanessa A]

It really depends. Without seeing your return, it is hard to give a definite answer as to what is going on.

 You mentioned, you would both need to itemize?  Why is that?  Are his itemized expenses over $14,600 and yours are not?  How much over?

And when you say itemize, are you talking about things like medical expenses, mortgage interest, property taxes, gambling losses up to gambling winnings or are you talking about business expenses?

If you are talking about business expenses, those are not the same thing as itemized expenses.  If he is just taking business expenses, it is possible he is still taking the standard deduction. 

If he is itemizing his return and if his itemized expenses are more than the standard deduction but less than the Married Filing Jointly deduction.  At the same time, what type of deduction are you taking on line 12 of your 1040?  Is it $14,600?  If so, then you are taking the standard deduction.  

When you combine his income with yours, does it put you in another tax bracket?

One of the best things to do is to write down the numbers on your return separate and do the same for his separate, then see what changes when you file jointly.  This will tell you why your refund is not covering his SE taxes. 

[Hal_Al]

The self employed claim their business deductions directly on Schedule C. Business deductions are not claimed as itemized deductions. That is, the self employed get their business deductions in addition to their standard deduction.