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.
Survey: Biggest Challenges Facing California Businesses
Survey: Biggest Challenges Facing California Businesses A recent survey was conducted to determine what business owners in California thought the biggest challenges facing their businesses were. Out of 1500 questionnaires, these are the percentage of respondents who checked off a box next to each challenge. (Respondents were allowed to select more than one box, so…
5 Strategies to Successful Cash Flow Management
5 Strategies to Successful Cash Flow Management By John Reddish How can you predict, avoid and/or, minimize the impact of a cash emergency? Managing cash flow is every manager’s challenge, every day, every year. Those managers who keep a close eye on their daily activity and emerging industry trends can help reduce their company’s exposure…
15 Tips to Streamline Your Business and Become Profitable in 2007
15 Tips to Streamline Your Business and Become Profitable in 2007 By Julian Stone Here are some tips to help you ‘cut the fat’ and improve the productivity of your business. If you apply a few of these, you’re well on your way to achieving greater profit and creating less stress! Cut the SlackersCut the…
10 Ways to Increase Your Profitability
10 Ways to Increase Your Profitability “Profitability is as dependent on cutting costs as it is on increasing sales.” Profitability is as dependent on cutting costs at it is on increasing sales. As financial advisors, we are often called upon to assist management in reducing costs and finding alternatives to their unique situations. We have…