Can I file married filing separate after filing married filing jointly in previous years?

[KennethB]

Yes, you may file as Married Filing Separately even if you filed jointly with your spouse in previous years.  However, Married Filing Separately is generally the least advantageous filing status if you are married.

You can compare filing jointly vs. separately with TurboTax's free calculator TaxCaster. It will give you the estimated tax differences when filing either way. 

Or, if you are using TurboTax Online version of the software, you will need to create a different account with different user IDs. So one for each spouse and then one for filing jointly. You can then compare total taxes due filing separately to the amount if you file jointly. You can click My Account in top right and then Save & Sign Out to save your return.

• Start another return in TurboTax Online

Many married couples find it best to file jointly since that usually provides the larger refund and you don't have as much due in taxes.   

You can see in more details here Is it better for a married couple to file jointly or separately? why it's better to file jointly. And you will find more details on why you’d want to file separately on that page as well. 

When you file separately, your tax rate is higher and you won't get to claim these things:

• Education benefits
• Earned Income Credit (EIC)
• Child and Dependent Care Credit (usually)

• The same benefit married filing jointly couples get for personal exemptions, itemized deductions, the Child Tax Credit, and capital losses (all of these deductions are reduced by half)
• Itemized deductions if your spouse has already claimed the standard deduction, or the other way around.

[jpohnsonpm]

When filing separately, how do I report dividend and stock sales from joint accounts?

[NCperson]

@jpohnsonpm if it was jointly held, then 50/50.

Note that filing separately is not a good idea from a financial standpoint - the taxes owed when the two returns are added together are normally much larger than when filing joint.  96% of married couples file joint.

if the decision to file 'separate" reflects the status of the marriage, I understand and sorry for that, but if it being done solely on the basis of financial matters, it is highly unlikely to be a good decision.

[SweetieJean]

@jpohnsonpm  There are also special calculations if you are in a Community Property State.

[NCperson]

@SweetieJean - what are they????? 

[Buck_Fievre]

While the combined tax burden will almost be higher, it won't necessarily be "much" higher.   In our case for the 2022 tax year, the combined federal tax due will be about $225 more when filing separately.  However, because of a long-standing, erm, quirk - I'm being generous here! - in the way the Department of Education calculates income based repayments for certain student loans*, both of our monthly payments will be hundreds of dollars less when the pandemic loan repayment freeze finally ends this summer.   No one wants to pay more taxes, but that's a pretty good ROI in my book.    

* We're both on track for PSLF forgiveness.  Your results may vary!