Can my husband and I file separately this year if our W4's were filled out as "Married Filing Jointly"?

[brittany_1124]

We both filled our our W4's as "Married Filing Jointly" as this has made sense for the past 5 years. This year, it'd be more advantageous for us to file separately due to his write-offs. Are we allowed to file separately even though our W4's are MFJ?

[ThomasM125]

Yes, the W-4 is only used to calculate your tax withheld, you can file separate if you want.

[Mike9241]

yes you can file as MFS but are you sure it produces less in taxes than MFJ? One rule for MFS is that both must use either itemized deductions or the standard deduction. Also, some tax credits and deductions are not available if MFS. 

[xmasbaby0]

Your W-4 does not dictate how you have to file your tax return.  You can choose to file MFS or MFJ.  But are you sure MFS is really better?   MFS is usually the worst way to file.

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 since with online, you get one return per fee.

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-separ...

[brittany_1124]

So, the mortgage is in my husband's name & we paid over $20,000 between Property Taxes and Interest. So he has significantly more write-offs than I did (zero for me). 

I ran both scenarios through the calculator, and if we file jointly, we ended up owing a couple hundred. Whereas if we filed separately, he got back ~$1400 and I ended up owing ~$400, so we ended out "on top". 

But I did not know that we both had to itemize, so I'm assuming if I itemize, it'll end up hurting me way worse and we'll still end up the same?

[xmasbaby0]

If you file MFS your property tax  (SALT) deduction is capped at $5000 per spouse.

It is not easy to compare MFJ to MFS using online TT but you can do it.  Since you only get one return for each account and user ID, you have to use 3 accounts and user ID’s—one for MFJ and two for each of the MFS returns.  Compare, choose, and file—and pay—accordingly.

It is much easier to do this comparison using the desktop version of TT installed from a CD or downloaded to your own computer.  You pay once for the software and you can prepare multiple returns easily, and it has a “what if” feature that allows comparisons.