Should I claim my spouse as a dependant if filing jointly?

[rmstier]

I claimed my wife as a dependant on my federal return.  We filed jointly.  Is this correct?  I noticed that my deductions were $15,700 instead of $19,500.  What is correct?

[Texas Roger]

No. You cannot claim a spouse as a dependent on your tax return. Each spouse gets a personal exemption on a married filing jointly tax return which is equal to a dependency exemption. If you are both under 65, your standard deduction would be $11,900 and each of you would get a $3800 personal exemption making the total $19,500. Did you enter your wife's name as your spouse in the Personal Info section and choose married filing jointly as your filing status?

[VolvoGirl]

Out of curiousity, I've been trying to figure out how it came up with 15,700.  I can't come up to that figure.  The only thing I notice is that 19,500-15,700 is 3,800 the amount of 1 exemption.

[jerry2000]

No, it is not correct. You can not claim your wife as a dependent. You can file as Married Filing Jointly and get the dependent exemption for each of you. You list your wife as your spouse, not as a dependent in the dependent data area.