Which way do you get more money back
2006-12-08 07:18:59 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
Your marital status dictates your choices - if you are married as of December 31st, then you are considered married for the whole year. So whether you have kids or not, you have 2 filing choices - "Married Filing Jointly" and "Married Filing Seperately".
If you are not married (divorced by December 31st), then you file either "Single" without kids or "Head of Household" if you have kids.
Another scenario is if you and your spouse are not living together. if you did not live together for the last 6 months of the year then you have 3 choices - "Married Filing Jointly", "Married Filing Seperately" or "Head of Household".
Simple answer, if you have kids and are happily married (not seperated) then you file jointly and claim the kids.
If not happily married and seperated (for the last 6 months), claim the kids and "Head of Household" for the most bang.
2006-12-08 08:00:26 · answer #1 · answered by NoNickname 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Generally married with kids is better on taxes.
2006-12-08 15:27:08 · answer #2 · answered by bissa 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I disagree with everyone else on here. Being unmarried with kids is generally more advantageous on your taxes. There are additional credits that you may be eligible for because your single income would be lower than two incomes. There are a lot of situational issues to consider such as your income range, whether or not you attend school, pay student loan interest....the list goes on and on. The only way to know for sure is to compute it both ways.
And ultimately, I wouldn't let tax issues decide whether you get married or not! LOL
2006-12-08 19:36:06 · answer #3 · answered by strawberrycrush 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The safe answer is married, but if there is a good reason to file separately (like prior tax debts) you may have to remain single as being married and filing separately is generally very inefficient for tax purposes.
2006-12-08 18:05:45 · answer #4 · answered by skip 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You definitely want married with kids because then you get the deduction for the kids. We lost our son last year as a deduction and it sucks.
2006-12-08 15:20:57 · answer #5 · answered by crazycatlady 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
married with kids.
2006-12-08 17:41:59 · answer #6 · answered by nwnativeprincess 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋