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If you are married, you can legally on file in two ways, Married Filing Joint and Married Filing Separate. Married Filing Separate excluded you from getting any tax credits and you only get half of the Standard Exemption. I have never seen a case where Married Filing Separately was better. Married Filing Separately also requires you to include your spouses social security number on your return. If you are married but legally separated for at least the last six months of the calendar year you can file as if you are not married. This means you can file as Single, Married Filing Separately, or Head of Household.

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Q: Is better filing jointly with a spouse or separately?
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Can you claim your wife as a dependent on your taxes if you file separately?

No. If you are Married Filing Separately, then you only can claim your personal exemption. Your wife's personal exemption only can be claimed by her if you're Married Filing Separately. Your spouse, whether filing jointly or separately, can't be considered your dependent.


What are the benefits to a married couple filing their income tax jointly?

A married couple filing their income tax jointly generally will owe less tax than a couple who file separately, but not always. A lot depends on the amount of income each spouse reports.


How can i claim my husband as a dependent?

You don't claim a spouse as a dependent. If you are married you have only two option to legally file your taxes. These are Married Filing Joint and Married Filing Separately. Married Filing Jointly is where you file together and you don't file a spouse as a dependent but you still receive all benefits as if they were a dependent. You will get a higher Standard Deduction and get two exemptions plus any other dependents you may have. Married Filing Separately requires both of you to file the same way and each has to enter the other spouses social security number on their return. You can't file the spouse as a dependent this way.


What are the advantages of filing 'Married Filing Jointly' over 'Married Filing Separately'?

Also, you can't claim certain things as married filing separately as you can married filing jointly. The advantage is a bigger standard deduction. This is the amount the IRS subtracts from your income for the year. Say, you made $30,000 and your spouse made 36,000. Filing separately you would have only received a combined deduction of say...$6,000. Filing together, with your income combined, you might have a deduction of say $7,000 or more. It's been a while since I've prepared taxes, don't take my word on the exact #'s. HELL NO! It your deduction was 5000 and you paid 25000 in tax that would be 20% if you were married and your deduction was increased to say 10,000 and you AND your spouse paid 50,000 in tax that would be 20% There is no actual striaght benifit. Depends on what you make over all , vs what deductions u each can claim. Kids, COsts etc what you paid in tax etc.


Can you claim your spouse as a dependent on your tax return?

No. If you're Married Filing Jointly, then you're allowed one personal exemption for you and one exemption for your husband. You can't claim your spouse as a dependent. Even if you're working and your spouse isn't, you can't claim your spouse as a dependent because you're allowed to claim two personal exemptions total for the two of you as a married couple filing jointly.

Related questions

Can you claim your wife as a dependent on your taxes if you file separately?

No. If you are Married Filing Separately, then you only can claim your personal exemption. Your wife's personal exemption only can be claimed by her if you're Married Filing Separately. Your spouse, whether filing jointly or separately, can't be considered your dependent.


How do you file your taxes if your spouse is in jail?

Any married person has the option of filing as "Married filing separately" which requires no reporting or signature of the spouse. You can also still file as "Married filing jointly" if you both wish to do so as long as you can get the spouse's signature.


What are the benefits to a married couple filing their income tax jointly?

A married couple filing their income tax jointly generally will owe less tax than a couple who file separately, but not always. A lot depends on the amount of income each spouse reports.


Do you file your taxes if your on disability have gotten married spouse works and have kids?

If you have a spouse, you may file a joint tax return with your spouse whether or not you have any taxable income yourself. In virtually all cases, filing jointly results in paying less combined tax than being married filing separately. And not filing jointly could make your wife ineligible for certain tax breaks like the Earned Income Credit or a Roth IRA contribution.


Can you file married filing separate in Louisiana?

Yes, married individuals in Louisiana have the option to file their taxes as "married filing separately" if they choose to do so. This means each spouse will report their income and deductions separately on their own tax return. However, it's essential to evaluate the potential tax consequences and benefits of filing jointly or separately before making a decision.


Married under 6 months can you still file single?

If you are considered married at the end of the year, you can never file single. If you don't want to file jointly with your spouse, you can choose "married filing separately." Under rare circumstances where you have not lived with your spouse at all during the last six months of the year, your spouse is not returning, and you meet the other qualifications for head of household, you may file as Head of Household. Frequently it's better to file as married filing jointly though...especially if one has a high and the other a low income.


What is your filing status if married to an illegal immigrant?

If you are legally married to an illegal immigrant, you can still file as either married filing jointly or married filing separately. However, filing jointly may have potential issues such as disclosing your spouse's information. It is recommended to seek advice from a tax professional for guidance on the best option for your specific situation.


Should common law with children file taxes jointly?

If your common law marriage is recognized in the state where you now live, or in the state where the relationship began, you are considered married for tax purposes. Assuming that you are living with your spouse, you may file as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately. You may not file as Single or Head of Household.


Do you put married filing separately on your taxes or single after marrying a non-citizen who is here on a student visa who has no income to report?

In theory the non citizen spouse is not required to file a return, but the other spouse as a citizen has only two choices: either married filing joint or married filing separate. Most likely you will probably want to file jointly so that you can claim your spouse's exemption amount as well as being able to claim some credits which are denied to couples filing separately. The income limitations for couples filing separately are usually halved therefore this is an additional incentive to file jointly. In order for a noncitizen to be included on a tax return they must have a valid tax ID number. This would be a valid SS# for employment or they will have to request a tax ID number from the IRS for income tax filing purposes only. Check IRS website: irs.gov for additional information.


How can i claim my husband as a dependent?

You don't claim a spouse as a dependent. If you are married you have only two option to legally file your taxes. These are Married Filing Joint and Married Filing Separately. Married Filing Jointly is where you file together and you don't file a spouse as a dependent but you still receive all benefits as if they were a dependent. You will get a higher Standard Deduction and get two exemptions plus any other dependents you may have. Married Filing Separately requires both of you to file the same way and each has to enter the other spouses social security number on their return. You can't file the spouse as a dependent this way.


What are the advantages of filing 'Married Filing Jointly' over 'Married Filing Separately'?

Also, you can't claim certain things as married filing separately as you can married filing jointly. The advantage is a bigger standard deduction. This is the amount the IRS subtracts from your income for the year. Say, you made $30,000 and your spouse made 36,000. Filing separately you would have only received a combined deduction of say...$6,000. Filing together, with your income combined, you might have a deduction of say $7,000 or more. It's been a while since I've prepared taxes, don't take my word on the exact #'s. HELL NO! It your deduction was 5000 and you paid 25000 in tax that would be 20% if you were married and your deduction was increased to say 10,000 and you AND your spouse paid 50,000 in tax that would be 20% There is no actual striaght benifit. Depends on what you make over all , vs what deductions u each can claim. Kids, COsts etc what you paid in tax etc.


You are married do you have to file with your spouse?

No. The optio of filing jointly or individually can be chosen and changed every year, based on which is best for you.