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should i file married jointly or seperate?

one income is 73,800 the other is 38,100

assuming standard deductions

10 Answers

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  • 7 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Almost always joint.

  • 7 years ago

    If you file jointly you have a combined income of $111,900. You get standard deduction of $12,200 and two personal exemptions at $3900 each, leaving you with 91,900 taxable and resulting in a total tax liability of $14,833

    If you file separately, you both get $6100 std deduction and one exemption of $3900 reducing each income by exactly $10,000 resulting in 63,800 and 28,100 taxable amounts. At MFS rates that amounts to tax liabilities of $11,879 and $3769 respectively. This means a total tax liability of $15,648

    So there you go.

    File Jointly & Uncle Sam takes a total of 14,833

    File Separately & Uncle Sam will take $15,648

    Difference of $815

  • 7 years ago

    Jointly

  • 7 years ago

    Any tax program will instantly run the numbers both ways and let you know which way gives you a bigger refund. That being said married filing jointly almost always is better.

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  • 7 years ago

    It depends where you live. If you live in a community property state such as Texas or California, when you file separately, you have to combine your income, then you each report half. There is no good reason to do that. If you live in a non community property state, that is not a factor; you each report your own income. However, when you file MFS, you cannot claim many of the tax credits that are available. Unless you want to keep your refund separate from your spouse, there is generally no reason to file separately. I would file joint.

  • 7 years ago

    From what you wrote, it doesn't make much difference since you get no credits anyway. If you have dependents, filing jointly would be a big advantage.

  • Judy
    Lv 7
    7 years ago

    Assuming standard deductions, if you trust your spouse and don't mind being responsible for their tax debts if they incur any, file jointly.

  • Ryan M
    Lv 7
    7 years ago

    Based on only what you posted, jointly. It's not even a discussion.

  • tro
    Lv 7
    7 years ago

    to see how it would work out for your both it might be wise to prepare 'dummie' returns both ways

    at this point it would be hard to tell you one way is better than the other

  • 7 years ago

    If you file MFS then you will not be eligible for EIC, child tax, and other credits so you will end up losing. People who choose MFS do it because of separation, or they don't want to mix their money together and being responsible for each others debts.

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