Married filing jointly vs married filing separately. Because of Medicare premiums, we would like to run TurboTax both ways to see the difference. Can we do this?

[BA520]

We are retired, in our marriage, person A receives a pension and is not enrolled in Medicare part "b". Person B receives a very small pension and is enrolled in Medicare part "b". Medicare premiums are based on income. If filing separately, Person B would pay smaller Medicare premiums, Person A is not paying for part "b". We would like to run TurboTax both ways, will the program allow us to do this? How many "what if" scenarios can we run on this TurboTax?

[MinhT]

In almost all situations, it is more beneficial to file Married Filing Jointly than Married Filing Separately.

With TurboTax Online, you cannot directly compare the two scenarios. However, you could create a couple of sample accounts and work through entering the information for you and your spouse in mock MFS returns. You will likely find that the total tax you owe is more for the MFJ.

Please read this TurboTax FAQ for more information:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3288477

[dill4fam]

Certainly... run separate MFJ vs MFS mock returns to determine if the additional tax owed filing MFS is less than the additional Medicare premium owed. If you aren't eligible for (nor interested) in any of the additional credits eligible only to MFJ, the difference will primarily be the difference in the standard deduction, if you change tax brackets, etc.

[cornelljune1968]

Unfortunately when it comes to the Medicare premiums the IRS will combine both MFS returns to determine the income test for the medicare Premiums.  Sorry