Married Filing Separately

A filing status for married couples who choose to record their respective incomes, exemptions and deductions on separate tax returns. In most cases, "married filing jointly" offers the most tax savings, especially when the spouses have different income levels. However, there is a potential tax advantage to filing separately when one spouse has significant medical expenses or miscellaneous itemized deductions.

Investopedia Says:
According to the IRS, if you and your spouse file separate returns and one of you itemizes deductions, the other spouse will have a standard deduction of zero. Therefore, the other spouse should also itemize deductions. Some credits cannot be used at all if you file separately; these include the child and dependent care credit, Hope and Lifetime learning credits, and adoption expense credit. If you live in community property states such as Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington or Wisconsin, you may need to see a tax professional since the rules about separate income can be tricky.

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Tax returns filed by a married couple choosing the married, filing separately, status. Each person reports his or her own income, deductions, exemptions, and credits. Couples may choose to file separately instead of with a Joint Tax Return for several reasons. A couple may choose to keep all of their financial affairs, including tax filing, separate. In some cases, a couple may find that the total amount of tax paid is less if they file separately than if they file jointly. This is usually the case when there is a wide disparity between the earnings of the husband and wife. However, because of the way the tax tables are designed, it is frequently more advantageous for a married couple to file a joint return than for them to file separate returns. See also Filing Status, Head of Household, Marriage Penalty.

Filing status option for taxpayers who are married to each other but wish to be responsible for only their individual tax returns. In noncommunity property states, each taxpayer would report only his or her own income and deductions. In community property states, each taxpayer would report his or her own income and deductions from separate property and half of the income and deductions from Community Property.