Newly married but wife claimed as dependent

[casonschneider]

My wife and I got married in '24 but my wife was claimed as a dependent by her family. She made 70k in the year. 1) Can I file as married jointly? 2) Who pays taxes on her income if she was a dependent that year?

[Vanessa A]

If she earned $70,000, how old is she, was she a student for 5 months of the year? 

Did she provide over half of her own support for the year? 

It is unlikely having earned that much that she qualifies as a dependent on her parents return.

The person who earns the income is always the person who pays the taxes on that income.

Yes, you can file jointly, however, if you do, and her family already claimed her then you will need to print and mail your return or request an IP PIN to e-file.

[casonschneider]

Thanks Vanessa. 23, student for 5 months, and technically didn't pay her own support. If I still file MFJ, will the parents be assessed a penalty? Trying to avoid.

[Vanessa A]

If you file jointly, and are not filing just to get the taxes back, then her parent would need to amend their return (or the IRS would do it for them and send them a letter telling them they owe however much they received for claiming her).

A parent can only claim a child if married filing jointly when they are only filing to claim a refund.  

If you do not want to have any changes to the parents return then you would need to file as married filing separately. 

[Hal_Al]

Q1) Can I file as married jointly?

A1) No. Her $70K income (and being a dependent) prevents you from filing jointly, even if you are getting a refund. 

Q2) Who pays taxes on her income if she was a dependent that year?

A2) She does.

The family should rethink this whole plan.  The best thing to do is for both couples to prepare their taxes both ways and see how the family comes out best overall, before filing,

See a similar question at: 

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/can-i-claim-my-daughter-who-got-married-on-decemb...

[Hal_Al]

"A parent can only claim a child if married filing jointly when they are only filing to claim a refund."

That may need a little clarification.  What it means is: if your income is so low, that you are not required to file, but your need to get your withholding back, you can file jointly, even if one of you is a dependent.   

In your case, your income is so high (one of you has $70K), that doesn't apply.   If one of you is claimed as a dependent, you cannot file jointly.