https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 27 Apr 2026 22:57:54 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2144550 Wed, 15 Apr 2015 08:52:53 +0000 Mrs. Coral 2144550@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: I'm a CPA and when I was in public accounting, our tax software would automatically prepare a comparison between married fing joint and married filing separately. It should not take much effort, I would just put it on your CPA--you pay them good money to be experts on the tax law and that comparison should be quick and easy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2144536 Wed, 15 Apr 2015 08:48:53 +0000 ShootingStar 2144536@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you file Married Filing Separately with Turbo Tax, does each spouse need to enter all of their info in separately? Out of curiosity I told Turbo Tax I wanted to amend my return and changed it to MFS and it added about $700 to my refund (which I already got). I'm not sure if I should really amend it or not. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2144513 Wed, 15 Apr 2015 08:35:43 +0000 anbanan15 2144513@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have different incomes as well and filing jointly works better for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2144452 Wed, 15 Apr 2015 08:03:07 +0000 mrsjyw 2144452@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I saw this article on yahoo this morning: </p> <p><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/spouse-file-taxes-separately-130900076.html" rel="nofollow">http://finance.yahoo.com/news/spouse-file-taxes-separately-130900076.html</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2144023 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 18:36:17 +0000 Mrs.KMM 2144023@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH makes about 4x as much as I do, and it still comes out better for us to file jointly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143822 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:11:55 +0000 Modern Daisy 2143822@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I dont know much about it personally but we had a pro do our taxes a few years ago and he told us to file jointly. Our incomes are almost identical, maybe that's why. Next year we are hiring an accountant again since our taxes will be very complicated. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143797 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 14:44:20 +0000 Mrs.Pinecone316 2143797@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We ran it both ways this year through turbo tax. Because I had a lot of medical expenses from IVF it worked out better for us to file separate, we owed about a $1,000 less. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143644 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:26:57 +0000 Anagram 2143644@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@78h2o: we use Tax Act, too! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143642 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:26:30 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2143642@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@78h2o: that's a great idea </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143632 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:18:47 +0000 78h2o 2143632@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: We do our own taxes using TaxAct... it costs around $20 I think to file that way? Anyway, at the end, it asks if you want them to compare filing separately vs. jointly. We asked it to run the comparison and it came out being much more advantageous for us to file jointly. In any case, maybe an online program like that would be helpful, even if you get your taxes done by a professional... just to see? I don't think you have to pay anything until you actually file, so you might be able to just look at a few different scenarios. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143620 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:15:15 +0000 Anagram 2143620@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's almost better to file jointly, since filing separately will mean you don't get to claim most deductions and credits. <a href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately" rel="nofollow">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143612 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:10:36 +0000 lamariniere 2143612@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I file separately because my DH is not a US citizen and therefore not subject to US taxes. I get basically no credits. I would definitely check with an accountant for your specific situation. . </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143542 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:38:46 +0000 gotkimchi 2143542@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Depends what state you are in. In my state, if you file seperately you each claim 50% of your combined income regardless of who made what. We have our accountant do it both ways and see what's better! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143531 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:34:25 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2143531@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@dc yoga bee: I have an actual cpa :) our taxes are super complicated for a lay person like myself... And we tried H&amp;R block once and the lady got really confused and made a big mistake regarding our rental property. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143505 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:22:51 +0000 dc yoga bee 2143505@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a significant variance in incomes, and our CPA runs them both ways. We always owe, but come out better filing jointly. Even filing seperately for income based repayment of my loans would not lower my payments by much because I make too much. My friend works at H&amp;R block and says they are basically using turbo tax, and she is not certified nor does she have an accounting degree. I would definitely use an actual CPA. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143487 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:14:19 +0000 babynumber1 2143487@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsKRB: This is why we file separately also. I makes a huge difference in my student loans monthly payment. </p> <p>@Mrs. Jacks: You will probably not be able to get a lot of tax credits that you are entitled to if you filed separately. We can't claim our house, daycare, student loan interest and a few other things. But for us the monthly amount with student loans makes a bigger difference. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143412 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 11:33:04 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 2143412@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We filed separately the first two years when we lived in different states. His state had a state income tax while mine did not and a joint federal tax filing would have made me liable for state income tax too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143402 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 11:28:34 +0000 reyorra 2143402@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: I'd be really surprised if your tax professional doesn't run the numbers both ways already. You can always ask them if they've done it. Or maybe they don't because of rules of the adoption tax credit... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143344 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:49:41 +0000 birdofafeather 2143344@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would run it both ways but my dad who writes income tax software said it almost never better to file separately. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143339 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:46:09 +0000 mrsrain 2143339@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I *think* I remember going through a worksheet to see if it would be worthwhile to file separately. In our case it is not. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143335 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:43:03 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2143335@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@danda: it's the adoption tax credit and I think it does exclude married filing separately if I read the it's code correctly just now. Bummer! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143332 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:40:27 +0000 Mrs. Champagne 2143332@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm in Canada but it's never better to file separately, at least here </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143311 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:32:06 +0000 MamaG 2143311@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We do both in turbo tax. While our incomes are fairly different and we suffer the marriage tax penalty, it's more advantageous for us to file jointly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143309 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:31:16 +0000 danda 2143309@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Married filing separately usually makes sense when there are very different income levels, whereas jointly usually is in your favor for the majority. Just make sure the credit you are thinking of does not exclude married filing separately...a lot of them aren't permitted when filing separately. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143307 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:30:00 +0000 jape14 2143307@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have very different incomes (DH makes like 5x what I do) and it still works out to our advantage for us to file jointly, even though it means I can't, for example, deduct my student loan interest. You should definitely ask your tax person to check, though! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143303 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:27:47 +0000 LindsayInNY 2143303@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DH and I have very different incomes and it works out best for us to file jointly. Our tax guy runs them both ways though, just to check. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143301 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:26:45 +0000 mrscobee 2143301@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Jacks: just saw your reply. We're in the same situation with differing incomes. Seems wrong but that's how it turns out! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143298 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:25:30 +0000 mrscobee 2143298@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We run it both ways on turbo tax and usually end up filing separate. DH does it but I know it turns out that way for us bc our income levels are way different and one of us can pick up credits / deductions and one of us can't, so what you are describing is totally plausible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143297 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:25:16 +0000 Mrs. Jacks 2143297@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We do have a professional. So I should ask them to run it both ways next year? We have very different incomes, so maybe it would help?</p> <p>It seems kind of wrong that we'd get this big advantage one way and not the other, doesn't it? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/married-filing-separately#post-2143290 Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:21:03 +0000 Truth Bombs 2143290@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I ran it both ways very easily in TurboTax. We would have owed about 5 times as much if we filed separately. They phase outs for a lot of deductions/credits are crazy low if you opt to file MFS </p>