Hi
I recently got married in March of 2024 and my husband is disable and do not work but have monthly child support obligation should I file married separate or married jointly.
Thank you
Tonya
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In almost all situations, it is more beneficial to file Married Filing Jointly than Married Filing Separately.
Please read this TurboTax Help topic for more information.
In your case, you can consider filing jointly and filing form 8379 - Injured Spouse to protect your share of the tax refund.
Do you mean that your spouse owes back child support? Is he behind in child support? Or do you mean that he pays child support and his only income is some form of disability like Social Security?
If he owes delinquent child support, that can cause your refund to be seized. If he is behind, you can still file a joint tax return but use the injured spouse form to protect your part of the refund. If he is current in paying his child support, you do not need injured spouse.
If you were legally married at the end of 2024 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately.
Married Filing Jointly is usually better, even if one spouse had little or no income. When you file a joint return, you and your spouse will get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $29,200 (+ $1550 for each spouse 65 or older) for 2024. You are eligible for more credits including education credits, earned income credit, child and dependent care credit, and a larger income limit to receive the child tax credit.
If you choose to file married filing separately, both spouses have to file the same way—either you both itemize or you both use standard deduction. Your tax rate will be higher than on a joint return.
Some of the special rules for filing separately include: you cannot get earned income credit, education credits, adoption credits, or deductions for student loan interest. A higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. Your limit for SALT (state and local taxes and sales tax) will be only $5000 per spouse. In many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit. The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be affected. If you live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional information regarding your spouse’s income. ( Community property states: AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI)
If you are using online TurboTax to prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay twice since with online, you get one return per fee.
INJURED SPOUSE
Best Wishes!
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