New marriage question

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
October 25, 2023
3 replies
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I re-married earlier in 2023 and I work full time. My husband is retired from self-employment and is on Medicaid and disability. He doesn't draw enough to file yearly income taxes. How should I file my taxes for 2023? Can I claim him as a dependent? (No other dependents). Should we file married filing jointly, or should I file separately? Thank you!

Ask the Experts - Extension - Sept 2023

DoninGA

Level 15

A spouse can never be claimed as a dependent. You should be filing as Married Filing Jointly even if one spouse has little or no income.

xmasbaby0

Level 15

Best Wishes!

A spouse cannot ever be claimed as a dependent. File a joint return. If you file separate returns, 85% of his SS becomes taxable immediately.

If you were legally married at the end of 2023 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 $27,700 (+$1500 for each spouse 65 or older) 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.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separately

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

tmarsman0222Author

Level 2

Thank you for your response. My husband was single for years before we married. And since he has been on disability and SSI, he has not filed the yearly income tax return. So does this mean that he will now be added to the married filing jointly return, (with me and my info)? Do I include his yearly SSI amount on the tax return as his income? Thanks!

xmasbaby0

Level 15

When you file a joint return, ALL of your combined income goes on the tax form, including his Social Security. In January he should receive a SSA1099 from Social Security---enter it on your 2023 forms:

Go to Federal> Wages & Income>>Retirement Plans and Social Security (SSA1099 and 1099RRB) to enter your SSA1099.

One thing---let's make sure you are really talking about Social Security and not "SSI"---a lot of people use those terms as if they are the same and they are not the same thing. If he receives a SSA1099 he is getting Social Security-----not "SSI". If he is getting SSI, he does not receive any sort of form for that, and it does not get entered on a tax return.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS AND SSI?

https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-over-ussi.htm

Emack_EA

Employee Tax Expert

Hello @tmarsman0222 thanks for being here.

If you are married as of Dec 31 2022 your filing status can either be married filing jointly and file an joint tax return with your spouse. In addition you can file a joint return as a widowed spouse for that year.

The other option is to file separate tax returns, but I would not recommend that option as it may result in more tax owed than filing a joint tax return.

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