How to Choose Your Tax Filing Status if You’re Married

If you’re married then you’ve probably just always filed a joint return with your spouse. In fact, chances are you’ve never even considered filing any other way. However, for some people, married filing jointly is not the best option. Depending on your situation, it could be more advantageous to file separately. Here are some things to consider when choosing what filing status to use if you are married.
While in many cases, filing together could help lessen the tax hit on you and your spouse it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes, the only advantage of filing jointly is that you only have to worry about one return. If you and your spouse both work and one of you earns a lot more than the other, then it will typically be better to file jointly, as it will usually help reduce your combined tax bill.
On the other hand, there are other circumstances wherein it that might better to file separately. For example, if you both have taxable income and one of you has a lot of itemized deductions limited by adjusted gross income (AGI), then it might make sense to file separately. That’s because by filing separately, you can also separate both of your AGI’s. If your AGIs are lower on your separate returns, you can save on your tax bill.
This is just one example of where filing separately from your spouse could be helpful. However, it’s best to weigh all your options before making that choice. If you’re not sure what status to choose, you can contact us at GROCO for help. We’ll look at all the numbers and all the possible scenarios and choose the best path for you. Call us at 1-877-CPA-2006, or click here.
Effectively Managing Your Goals
Effectively Managing Your Goals In effectively managing your goals, you need to know where you are going, start with the end in mind. In order to do this, it is important to establish an effective process to carry out your goals. Some goals may take only days to accomplish while others may take years. In…
What do both Goal Failure and Goal Success have in Common?
What do both Goal Failure and Goal Success have in Common? The other day I was asking my 12-year-old son how basketball practice went (he is playing goal success goal failure with a new year-round competitive team), and how he feels he is doing. He said, “Good.” That’s the typical answer I get from him,…
Becoming an Influential Leader
Becoming an Influential Leader Who are the most influential business leaders the world has known? Would it be the CEO of a multimillion-dollar corporation? Maybe it is someone that is not as well known; someone within your community who has set an exemplary example of leadership. Some individuals have innate qualities that make them born…
Agile Stacks | John Mathon
Agile Stacks | John Mathon Transcript Alan 0:02 I’m here today with John Mason. John is the founder of agile stacks and also CEO. John, welcome to today’s show. John 0:09 Thank you. Good to see you here. Alan 0:10 So agile stacks. You know, for the listeners, before we get into the company, let’s…