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.
Did I Accomplish All I Wanted?
Did I Accomplish All I Wanted? When you think about life, what do we have that comes of lasting value? Eventually, we go to the grave and the things that we acquire don’t go with us, but the memories that we leave behind and relationships with others will be long lasting. I recently had an interesting experience…
Important Tax Filing Deadlines You Don’t Want to Miss
Before you send in your tax return there are a lot of things you have to remember, which is why having a tax checklist is good idea. Of course, the right accountant will help you with that as well. However, before you ever get to that final point in the tax-filing process, you need to…
Which Tax Policy Issues Will Be Big in 2017?
Taxes, taxes, taxes. One could argue that 2017 will bring more changes to our country’s tax system and policies than we’ve ever seen before. The hope is that all that change will bring about better rewards, including a simplified tax return process and tax cuts for most, if not everyone. So as the New…
There’s Still Time to Cut Your 2016 Tax Bill
So with tax season officially kicking off next week, as the IRS will begin receiving returns on January 23rd, it would seem that the time to save money on your 2016 taxes is now gone. However, there is still a nice tax break available for this year all the way up till April 18th (the…