When your married and have a spouse that recieve ssi disability are you required to file marriedon your taxes

[DoninGA]

If you are legally married and living together you can only file your tax return as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately.  For tax purposes it is almost always better to file as MFJ.

To enter Social Security benefits reported on form SSA-1099

• Click on Federal Taxes (Personal using Home and Business)
• Click on Wages and Income (Personal Income using Home and Business)
• Click on I'll choose what I work on (if shown)
• Scroll down to Retirement Plans and Social Security
• On Social Security (SSA-1099, RRB-1099), click the start or update button

Or enter ssa-1099 in the Search box located in the upper right of the program screen. Click on Jump to ssa-1099

Up to 85% of Social Security Retirement/Disability/Survivors benefits becomes taxable when all your other income plus 1/2 your social security reaches:

• Married Filing Jointly - $32,000
• Single or Head of Household - $25,000
• Married Filing Separately - 0

[Hal_Al]

When you are  married and have a spouse that receives Social Security disability (SSDI)*  you are NOT required to file as married filing jointly (MFJ).  But, you still should.

You may be thinking that  filing Married Filing Separately (MFS) is going to save you money, because you won't have to add your spouse’s income to your return. That thinking is usually wrong. There is a special rule that says SS becomes taxable at zero ($0) other income when Filing as MFS. The doubled standard deduction will usually wipe out all the spouse’s income, on a joint return. But you will still get to use the lower joint filing rates.

Before making a decision to file as MFS, you should run test returns and compare. You can use this tool: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/?s=1

*Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is tax free welfare and not the same as Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), even though SSI is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA).  If you spouse does have SSI (rather than SSDI), that is all the more reason to file MFJ, because SSI is not reportable, at all. 

[-Lm]

I am married. I am 58 on disability. Total benefits 14'000.00. I worked and made close to 5000.00. Therefore my wages with Social Sac purity Disability are 19,0000. My husband made around 46,000.00. If I file married filing separately what will be my taxable wages?

[Vanessa A]

If you are married and you file separate returns, 85% of your social security disability becomes taxable. To determine your taxable income you would multiple .85 by your total disability benefits then add your wages earned. 

If you file a separate return, you would then deduct your standard deduction of $12,950 from the total.  That would be your taxable income.  If you have taxable income of less than $10,275 your tax rate is 10%.

If your husband would choose to Itemize his return instead of taking the standard deduction, you would also need to itemize, but you cannot duplicate expenses.  This could mean you would not have the $12,950 standard deduction and would have taxable income of 85% of your disability benefits plus your wages. The amount over $10,275 would be taxed at 12%. 

You can enter all of your numbers into TurboTax to determine which way is best for you to file. 

(Edited 7:54PM PST 1/24/2023) @-Lm