My wife works for the state and does not pay social security. Would this cause us to have a lower return than if she did?

[mpdeyling]

For the last several years, my wife and I have noticed that her sister and her sisters husband get a significantly higher return than we do. They both make exactly what we make and file jointly, like we do. They also take the same number of exemptions. This year, I noticed that my wife does not pay into social security because she is a city employee. Im curious if this could be the reason why there is such a large difference in our returns each  year.  

[MichaelL1 · Accepted solution]

Your wife not paying into Social Security (doe to city worker) has no impact at all on your income tax on your return.

The only way you could really see what the differences are between your return and your wife's sister is to print both returns and look at them line by line to see what is different.

My guess would be taxes withheld is different, or they may have larger amounts going into retirement plans at their jobs, but only way is to look at both returns.

[mpdeyling]

Thank you!