Trying to decide whether to file married jointly or married separate. Im unemployed and we have 2 kids to deduct

[DoninGA]

If you are legally married then you should file as Married Filing Jointly even when one spouse has little or no income and especially if you are claiming children as dependents.

[Kesi12]

Same I filed jointly as hubby stays home and I work. First year filing that way but bigger refund than if I was just doing it with myself. I just hope there are no issues from filing jointly 

[BarbaraW22]

As DoninGA states above, if you are married and have a child (or children), it is usually better to file "married filing jointly." This is because some tax credits are not available when you file "married filing separately." Two credits that are not available when you file as "married filing separate" are the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Credit. Depending on your tax situation, there may be additional tax credits available to you.

However, some married couples without children may find a benefit to filing as married filing separate. If a credit is based on income, then filing separate may allow an individual to be eligible to claim a credit based on his/her income alone if filing as married filing separate. One example is the Retirement Savers Credit, which allows a credit for retirement contributions if your income is below a certain amount.

Please see this TurboTax article for more information.

@Kesi12