It would depend on your individual circumstance. Factors such as income and other deductibles play a big role in knowing how to answer that question.
There are additions to tax benefits to filing your taxes as married filing jointly in most cases, the deductible is greater than it would be individually and there are often additional tax credits to married filers.
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For 2008 tax returns, the Married Filing Jointly standard deduction of $10,900 and three exemptions at $10,500 would be subtracted from your salary. That makes your taxable income $13,600. The Married Filing Jointly tax is $1,363. Your tax is further reduced by any credits for which you're eligible (earned income, etc.) and any income tax withheld by your employer.
Tax laws now treat deductions the same for married as single You can file either jointly or seperately. Certainly many things enter into if one election is better than the other, and not only just which has a lower tax result. However, the most certain way to determine which is better is to simply prepare a return each way...it's really not too difficult to do by hand, but especially with all the computer return software and sites, some of which are available for free, many of which automatically run the test, it isn't hard to do. Off the top, if one of you has a reasonable income, and the other (the student) has little or none, it would seem clearly better to file jointly. The small income person probably actually doesn't have enough income to use up all the personal exemption and deductions they have by themselves, essentially wasting a benefit that could otherwise be used to offset taxable income of the wage earner.
As long as you are still married you should choose to file using the married filing joint status on your 1040 federal income tax return. Other wise your filing status would be married filing a separate tax return. MFJ you would have 2 exemption to start with on the MFJ income tax return. If she did not work she would not have any earned income that would have to be added to your earned income on the 1040 tax form.
There are additions to tax benefits to filing your taxes as married filing jointly in most cases, the deductible is greater than it would be individually and there are often additional tax credits to married filers.
Turbo tax offers good online income tax course would better prepare you to file this year's income tax return. Just go to turbotax.com
Because the other taxpayer on the MFJ income tax return had more income tax withheld from the pay than what the federal income tax liability was when the income tax return was completed.
For 2008 tax returns, the Married Filing Jointly standard deduction of $10,900 and three exemptions at $10,500 would be subtracted from your salary. That makes your taxable income $13,600. The Married Filing Jointly tax is $1,363. Your tax is further reduced by any credits for which you're eligible (earned income, etc.) and any income tax withheld by your employer.
If you filed jointly and your tax refund was intercepted, you will have to file an injured spouse claim to recover your share of the refund.
Tax laws now treat deductions the same for married as single You can file either jointly or seperately. Certainly many things enter into if one election is better than the other, and not only just which has a lower tax result. However, the most certain way to determine which is better is to simply prepare a return each way...it's really not too difficult to do by hand, but especially with all the computer return software and sites, some of which are available for free, many of which automatically run the test, it isn't hard to do. Off the top, if one of you has a reasonable income, and the other (the student) has little or none, it would seem clearly better to file jointly. The small income person probably actually doesn't have enough income to use up all the personal exemption and deductions they have by themselves, essentially wasting a benefit that could otherwise be used to offset taxable income of the wage earner.
If you have enough income, you can write off any interest you paid on your mortgage. This will help reduce your taxable income.
As long as you are still married you should choose to file using the married filing joint status on your 1040 federal income tax return. Other wise your filing status would be married filing a separate tax return. MFJ you would have 2 exemption to start with on the MFJ income tax return. If she did not work she would not have any earned income that would have to be added to your earned income on the 1040 tax form.
Its cheaper...it educes income that would be taxable.
Assuming they were both over 65, filed jointly, and took the standard deduction, they would most likely owe federal taxes if their joint income was over $20,000. There are situations where they could owe taxes even if their income was lower, for example, if some of their income was from self-employment or they had not taken the Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) on their traditional IRA or 401k. And many states have even lower thresholds for state income taxes.
No, the correct phrase in English is "separate from family."
Getting married does make you independent of your parents income, however you need to consider your income as well as the income of your future spouse.