Marriage

[jbresnahan]

I just got married this year. My husband and I don't know if we should file jointly or separately. We are worried about combining our incomes and having to pay taxes vs filing separeatly and getting a refund. Are there any benefits for us to file jointly? Should we get an accountant instead of doing our taxes online? 

[maureencpa]

You have the option of filling either way: jointly or separately.  In most cases it works out better financially to file jointly, the IRS extends tax breaks to encourage this. 

There are rare instances when this is not the case, the following link will take you to information that will spell this out:

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

Without all of your information it is not possible to advise one way or another. You can still prepare your taxes on your own if you wish,  many tax programs will do the married filing separately vs. jointly analysis for you.