The irs changed my tax return to 0.00 and the only money I was owed was the stimulus payments. What happened why is this happening and what did I do wrong if I did??

[vtheo]

I've had my husband and his tax person look and they say we match and cannot find a reason the irs did this?

[VolvoGirl]

You only claimed the Stimulus on line 30?  Did you get the Stimulus payments separately or did your husband get the total for you?  Or maybe you were claimed as a dependent on his return or  your parents, etc? 

By the way,  If you are married the best way to file is Joint.  May I ask why you are filing separate ?  Ask his tax person why it's not a Joint return.  

[SweetieJean]

Did you use TT to prepare and file the return?  Or did the "tax person" do it?   In either case, the IRS will be sending you a letter about the adjustment and/or offset that they made.

[vtheo]

I never got the stimulus last year due to not working and therefore not filing( yes I've been struggling since prepandemic and it's only gotten worse) and so we claimed the recovery credit this year.  We filed separately because his tax guy charges to file wheras I used turbotax for free to try it. We also don't have matching names yet because I haven't gotten my name changed but we will be filing jointly from now on, everything being so crazy has just made me stress out and so I rushed to file early and everything. I tried to be accurate though and nobody can find an issue for me. Irs is full of calls so I can't get ahold of them...

[vtheo]

I used tt, he uses his family's person who they trust and whatnot, I'm hoping that's not why ugh..

[VolvoGirl]

None of those are reasons to file separate.  You can have different last names on a Joint return.   Does the tax guy charge more for a Joint return?  A Joint return is 1 return combined for the both of you.  It's still only 1 return either Separate or Joint.  You might be losing out on credits by filing separate.  Didn't the tax guy explain that?  Does he ask how you are filing?  Some things need to match on both separate returns.

It is usually better to file Joint. Joint has the lowest tax rates and the highest Standard Deduction. And if you are in a Community Property state MFS gets tricky to figure out. Here's some things to consider about filing separately……

Many people think they come out better when filing Married Filing Separate but they are probably doing it wrong. If one person itemizes deductions then the other one must itemize too, even if it's less than the standard deduction, even if it is ZERO!

And there are several credits you can't take when filing separately, like the

EITC Earned Income Tax Credit

Child Care Credit

Educational Deductions and Credits

And contributions to IRA and ROTH IRA are limited when you file MFS.  Also if you file Married Filing Separately up to 85`% of your Social Security becomes taxable right away even with zero other income.

See …….
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/married/help/is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-...