Married filing seperatly. Return dropped $900 when I selected "wife will take standard deduction"

[ChristinaS · Accepted solution]

When filing married filing separately, you have to both itemize or both take standard. If she takes standard, you can't itemize. So, your itemized deductions must have been higher than the standard. When you dropped to standard, so did your refund.

You can either file together, or decide between the two of you whether you will both itemize or both take standard. If you and your spouse have a good relationship, you may want to determine whether forcing her to also itemize will negatively impact her return by more than $900.

[cavedivertom]

I chose standard deduction.