@Gbretm Thanks for the question!!
Generally, filing jointly (one tax return instead of two) will give you a bigger refund or less taxes due. The IRS shows its preference for filing MFJ by allowing certain credits only when MFJ.
- Earned Income Credit
- Education credits, including the lifetime learning credit (LLC) and the American opportunity tax credit (AOTC)
- Full child credit
- Dependent care credit
- Adoption credit on the year adoption took place
Why would I want to file separately?
The main reason you'd want to file separately is to protect yourself from inaccurate tax information reported by your spouse, or in cases where your spouse refuses to file a joint return (or refuses to file, period) and you don't want to get in trouble.
When you file separately, your refund can't be seized to pay off your spouse's debts. However, filing jointly as an innocent or injured spouse can head off refund seizures as well.
You can compare your estimated taxes for filing jointly vs. separately with TaxCaster. How can I compare Married Filing Jointly with Married Filing Separately?
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