Married Filing Jointly vs. Married Filing Separately - Comparing Lost Deductions (2024)

FAQs

What deducts more married filing jointly or separately? ›

Generally, married filing jointly is more generous due to wider tax brackets and a bigger standard deduction, Lucas said. For example, the 10% bracket kicks in with $22,000 in taxable income for joint filers, versus only $11,000 for couples filing separately for 2023.

You can't take the earned income credit. You can't take the exclusion or credit for adoption expenses in most cases. You can't take the education credits (the American opportunity credit and lifetime learning credit), the deduction for student loan interest, or the deduction for tuition and fees.

Married filing separately is the ideal tax filing status if both spouses want to keep their tax liabilities separate. But if you file separate returns, you miss out on a number of tax credits and deductions that are meant for married couples, such as the earned income tax credit and the American Opportunity Tax Credit.

When it comes to filing your tax return as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately, you're almost always better off Married Filing Jointly (MFJ), as many tax benefits aren't available if you file separate returns.

Married Filing Jointly (or Qualifying Widower): This status should be used if you are married and filing a joint tax return with your spouse. This status will have less taxes withheld from each paycheck than Head of Household.

You might get a bigger refund (or owe less tax) if you file separately, but this is not usually the case.

Though most married couples file joint tax returns, filing separately may be better in certain situations. Couples can benefit from filing separately if there's a big disparity in their respective incomes, and the lower-paid spouse is eligible for substantial itemizable deductions.

If you are married and you file your tax return using the filing status married filing separately, you will not be eligible for the premium tax credit unless you are a victim of domestic abuse and spousal abandonment and can meet certain criteria.

Any legally married couple can opt to file their tax returns separately. The “married filing separately” status doesn't come with any tax penalties in the true sense of the word — but you might miss out on certain tax breaks and end up with higher taxes.

Do you save money if you file married filing separately? ›

A couple may pay the IRS less by filing separately when both spouses work and earn about the same amount. When they compare the tax due amount under both joint and separate filing statuses, they may discover that combining their earnings puts them into a higher tax bracket.

If you and your spouse file separate returns, you should each report only your own income, deductions, and credits on your individual return. You can file a separate return even if only one of you had income. Community or separate income.

My spouse and I are filing separate returns. How can we split our itemized deductions? If you and your spouse file separate returns and one of you itemizes deductions, the other spouse must also itemize, because in this case, the standard deduction amount is zero for the non-itemizing spouse.

To qualify for the head of household filing status while married, you must be considered unmarried on the last day of the year, which means you must: File your taxes separately from your spouse. Pay more than half of the household expenses. Not have lived with your spouse for the last 6 months of the year.

Watch Out for Higher Rates: If you file separately, you might pay higher taxes than if you teamed up on a joint return. This is especially true if only one spouse has taxable income. Saving on Medical Bills: Got big medical expenses? Filing separately might help you clear the 7.5% threshold on adjusted gross income.

Generally, married filing jointly provides the most beneficial tax outcome for most couples because some deductions and credits are reduced or not available to married couples filing separate returns.

And while there's no penalty for the Married Filing Separately tax status, filing separately usually results in even higher taxes than filing jointly. For example, one of the big disadvantages of Married Filing Separately is that there are many credits that neither spouse can claim when filing separately.

Joint filers receive better Standard Deduction amounts as well as wider tax brackets than those filing as Head of Household. Joint filers have a Standard Deduction twice as large as single filers. Their Standard Deduction is roughly 33% larger than Head of Household filing status ($27,700 vs. $20,800 for 2023).

Married filing separately with kids

Generally, the parent who provides the child's housing for most of the tax year gets to claim the child and the tax breaks.