UPDATED FOR TAX YEAR 2019
Married filing jointly is usually better than filing separately. Normally you are also eligible for more credits (child tax credit, education credits, earned income credit, child and dependent care credit) but many have been phased out at your income level.
Keep in mind that if you are married and file separately, you both must itemize your deductions on each of your returns, or both of you must take the standard deduction. There is an exception to this--if you didn't live with your spouse at any time during the last six months of the year (July-December)
In rare situations, filing separately may help you save on your tax return.
- For example, if you or your spouse has a large amount of out-of-pocket medical expenses to claim and since the IRS only allows you to deduct the amount of these costs that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI), it can be difficult to claim most of your expenses if you and your spouse have a high AGI.
- Filing separate returns in such a situation may be beneficial if it allows you to claim more of your available medical deductions by applying the 7.5% threshold to only one of your incomes.
The best way to find out if you should file jointly or separately with your spouse is to prepare the tax return both ways. Double check your calculations and then look at the net refund or balance due from each method.
For additional information, see these articles:
[Edited | 4/8/2020 | 12:37pm PDT]
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