My husband pays child support automatically deducted from his paycheck how do we file jointly

[Hal_Al]

The fact tha child support is coming out of his pay is not relevant. You file jointly like any other married couple.

[bmomrn1]

they wont try to take the remainder of a balance from me though will they. In other words garnish my wages

[Hal_Al]

You didn't say there was unpaid CS due. See TurboTaxJulieH1's answer below on how to use form 8379 to avoid them taking the tax refund attributable to YOUR share of the income.

They will not  garnish YOUR wages, ever.

[JulieH1 · Accepted solution]

You can file jointly and file an injured spouse form with your return if you think he has some possibility of being garnished out of his tax return.

Otherwise, you just enter what his W2 says.  His employer will have taken the child support after taxes.

How do I file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation?

How do I file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation?

How do I file Form 8379, Injured Spouse Allocation?

Form 8379 lets you (the "injured spouse") get back your portion of a jointly-filed refund if it's seized or offset to pay your spouse's debt.

You must file jointly to use this form. Also, filing an 8379 will delay your federal refund by up to 14 weeks.

To file this form in TurboTax:

1. Open your return. (To do this, sign in to TurboTax and click the Take me to my return button.)
2. In the search box, type in "injured spouse" and then click the "Jump to" link in the search results.
3. Answer Yes to Do you want to claim innocent or injured spouse relief? and carefully follow the onscreen instructions for Injured Spouse.

Note: Pay close attention to the screens, as some of them apply to innocent spouse relief, which is something else. Leave those questions blank if you only want to claim injured spouse relief.

[xmasbaby0]

Child support is not deductible.  Enter your spouse's W-2 exactly as it appears.