+16 votes
by (970 points)
Consulting with a tax professional, but I would like to get others opinion/advice before seeing him. My husband and I recently got married. We are going to do our taxes soon. His income 100k ish last year it was 109k and mine is at 47k. I am a grad student and I paid about 18k in tuition for 2018-2019 school year. I’ve paid everything in cash so that I can graduate debt free. Should we do our taxes together? Or separate? Does it matter? Once I graduate, I should be making more than 60k.  
Consulting with a tax professional, but I would like to get others opinion/advice before seeing him.

10 Answers

0 votes
by (150 points)
What month did you get married? I would probably file separately
by (970 points)
December 28, 2019
by (150 points)
@frolic6 file separately bc you will get more money back from going to school credits His gross for last year will send you into a higher tax deduction
by (970 points)
@paymaster I know  i feel bad because I know he gets taxed a lot. but i am also thinking about myself and my expenses.  
by (110 points)
Have the tax preparer run both ways and see which way benefits you the most. Look at all the numbers before you decide.  
by (110 points)
Often when you file married filing separate, you lose many tax credits and pay a higher tax.  
0 votes
by (150 points)
Why not calculate them each way and see which one is more advantageous?  
by (780 points)
^this. We got married in December. So I figured out the refund for married filing joint and married filing separate. joint gave us the higher return. Every year I do both calculations (we keep having major changes) and every year for us filing joint has been the better option. Sometimes the difference is only $2 but no matter what I still always file with whichever gives the greater refund
by (110 points)
@diapedesis6 That’s what I did last year. We got married in November of 18 and I tried it both ways. We got more back filing together.  
0 votes
by (150 points)
You can try running it both ways on something like TurboTax to see which ones works out best for you. But with your being recently married, I think it would be a wise investment to see a tax preparer this year for advice. You don’t have to use them every year, but it might be good to get some professional advice!  
0 votes
by (300 points)
If you file separate you won’t be able to take the education credits.  
0 votes
by (890 points)
My accountant is in NJ but can do federal taxes. When I consulted in multiple states, he figured out how much tax I have for each state. Send me a pm if you want his information.  
0 votes
by (300 points)
Run the taxes both ways and file whichever is best for you
0 votes
by (280 points)
I always do my own taxes. Honestly I would use an online tax software and do your taxes together and individually to where you get the most money back.  
0 votes
by (200 points)
I hope you mean Married filing separately? And not single. It all depends if your husband is claiming you as a dependent or not. Regardless of if you file married or married separate you still each get to split your deduction vs. combining the $3k. Are you taking the standard deduction? Or itemizing?  
by (970 points)
Yes, that's what I meant. I think that he usually does the standard deduction. I usually only have my school stuff to deduct.  
0 votes
by (200 points)
You literally won't know until you run both scenarios
0 votes
by (200 points)
*accountant* Married filing jointly deduction is $24, 400. It is the biggest deduction. I haven’t seen any couples do better with separate tax returns.  
The Personal Finance Group is where you can always find questions, answers, advice, reviews & recommendations from other community members about investments, budgets, retirement, credit, and personal finances.

Related questions

...