Married Filing Separately

For the most part, it makes more sense for married couples to file taxes jointly every year, i.e. one return with both of their incomes, liabilities, assets, deductions, credits, and everything included on it.

Why “for the most part?”

Because things like marital credits, child deductions, IRA credits, and the like can only be claimed when we file jointly with our spouse. In general, filing jointly means we’ll owe less and get more back. In general.

But sometimes, it makes sense to go the “married filing separately” route: each person files their own return with their own stuff on it, much like we did when we were single. Depending on the state we live and work in, tax laws about this can get a lil' tricky, but for the most part, it makes sense to file separately if one or more of the following conditions is met:

- One of us has crazy insane medical expenses or other itemized deductions that make filing jointly undesirable

- One of us owes a bunch of money to the IRS already

- There is such a ginormous difference between our incomes that filing jointly actually causes us to owe more

- One of us is engaged in seriously unethical or illegal tax practices that the other person really doesn’t want to be held liable for

- Our spouse has intense concerns about “The Man” and refuses to file taxes altogether

Notably, filing (tax returns, not nails) separately can get complicated, especially if we live in a community property state. So if we’re questioning whether it makes more sense to file together or separately, we should definitely consult a tax specialist before we commit either way.