Newly married

[jnazyv76]

I'm newly married and would like to know the pros and cons of filing joint taxes or married filing separate.

[xmasbaby0]

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.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/marriage/should-you-and-your-spouse-file-taxes-jointly-or-separ...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/income/getting-married-mean-taxes/L2Rgma...

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/taxation/married-filing-separately-commu...

Best Wishes!

[KeshaH]

First of all, congratulations on your marriage.

Usually, married filing jointly results in lower overall taxes for most couples. When you file jointly, you get a higher standard deduction than you would for married filing separately and you would qualify for more tax credits. With a married filing joint tax return, both you and your spouse are both responsible for the tax return.

When you filing married filing separately, you're responsible for your own tax bill. This filing status generally results in higher overall taxes for couples. If you are in a community property state, you and your spouse would need to report a portion of each other's income and expenses.

Within TurboTax, you can create see which option gets you the best tax situation. If you're using TurboTax Online you will need to create three accounts: one that is married filing jointly, one filing married filing separately with just your information, and one filing married filing separately with just your spouse's information.

See: Married Filing Jointly vs Separately