Married Filing Jointly or Separate?

[mantock123]

My wife and I got married in August 2023. I have a payment plan in place with the IRS to pay monthly on prior tax years owed. So if I ever get a refund the amount is usually applied to the balance owed to the IRS for this instead of getting the actual refund. Should my wife and I file separately for this reason? If we file jointly and there is a refund it most likely will be applied to amount owed by me to the IRS for past tax years owed. Thank you. 

[DawnCo]

Hi Mantock123, 

Thanks for joining event today.

To simplify the answer. 

The simplest way to handle is Married Filing Separate. With filing that way, you would loose certain credits. Earned Income Credit, Child Care Credit, Education Credits and Student Loan Interest. In return, your spouses refund would be safe. I would recommend only doing this if you are a higher income earner (do not qualify for Earned income credit) with no dependents in childcare. If any of these credits are something you would qualify for and loose with choosing this option, I would opt for Married filing jointly claiming Injured spouse. This would free up the spouses portion of refund and not loose the credit. 

Here is an article to help decide which way to go. 

https://www.empower.com/the-currency/life/when-does-married-filing-separately-make-sense#:~:text=Oth....

Here is how to file injured spouse with Married filing jointly:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/spouse-partner/file-form-8379-injured-sp...