Quote:
Originally Posted by Misky1951
New wife (married in 2024) and I will be going to Villages Tax Aide for our tax preparation. From my research, it appears filing jointly is the best method. Since this is both our first time filing jointly, should we do both a joint return and individual returns to see what method gives us the lowest tax liability? Is so, will they do both for us ?
|
That's a good question - and a step I do for my clients. The individual items - 1099's, W-2s, capital gains need to tagged as taxpayer or spouse. There is a option/ form you then elect to split the items and see if a tax advantage is gained by filing jointly or separately. Very rarely is there a benefit to filing separately, Some items are lost - such as a child care credit - when separate returns are filing.
Some married couples file separately because the spouse doesn't want any liability if their significant other may haves underreported income or not reported income at all.
Some file separately because they don't want their spouse to know their income!