If You’re Married, Should You File Taxes Jointly or Separately?
Written by
Dawn Allcot
Edited by
Melanie Grafil
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With little time left until April 15, the 2024 deadline for filing federal taxes in the U.S., some married couples are grappling with the question: Should we file jointly or separately?
In most cases, married couples come out ahead by filing jointly. You may be able to claim various tax credits as a married couple not available to those filing separately — including the earned income tax credit, the child and dependent care credit, and the American opportunity and lifetime learning education tax credits.
If you file separately, only one parent can claim the child tax credit, and, depending on your income, you may not be able to claim it at all.
Filing jointly also doubles your standard deduction. This can make a big difference if one spouse makes significantly more than the other. It will reduce the tax liability for the spouse with the higher income, lowering the tax bill for both partners.
When you file jointly, you’ll also have more favorable tax brackets. Filing jointly could put you into a lower marginal tax bracket, reducing your tax rate.
Many Tax Credits Linked to Income
Many credits are phased out at certain income levels. When you file jointly, that threshold is doubled. For instance, the child tax credit phases out at $200,000 in income for single people and $400,000 for married parents. If one parent makes $250,000, they would not qualify for the credit if they filed separately. Even if the other parent only makes $50,000, the IRS requires that the parent with the higher adjusted gross income claims dependents. If the couple files jointly, they would show $300,000 in income, falling below the $400,000 threshold for married couples to claim the CTC.
However, there are a few circumstances where it might not benefit you to file jointly. If you’re in the midst of a divorce, you might want to file separately so you don’t share tax debt.
If you believe your spouse might be hiding income from the IRS, knowingly claiming deductions that are not correct or allowable, or is trying to evade taxes, you should file separately so you’re not held liable for their wrongdoings.
There are a few rare cases where filing separately will also help you reduce your tax bill. If both spouses earn roughly the same amount of money, filing jointly might place you in a higher tax bracket than filing separately.
Likewise, if one spouse has medical costs that exceed 7.5% of their adjusted gross income, but not 7.5% of your joint income as a couple, you could save on taxes by filing separately so the affected spouse can itemize medical deductions.
It’s best to speak with a tax professional who can run the numbers for separate and joint returns, and help you file in the way that will save you money.
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