If a married couple with no kids at home make about $80,000 together should they file joint or separate?

Question

Which way would we get the best refund? We just got married a year ago and filed seperate last year.

Answer 1

Only good (with RARE exceptions) to file separately if one of you has a lot of medical bills OR if you expect to divorce soon (then if one of you does not pay his/her tax bill then the other is not responsible)

Answer 2

If you make close to the same amount, you might not lose much if anything by filing separately, but would ordinarily do as well, or often better, by filing joint.

If one of you has very high unreimbursed medical expenses (over 7.5% of that person's income, and you each have enough itemized expenses to total more than the standard deduction, then it's possible you would do better filing separately.

Was there a reason you filed separate last year?

Answer 3

Typically any married couple should file married. However there are times when filing "Married But Seperate" will be benificial. To examine all possibilities I would suggest talking to a CPA.

Also with that high of an income, I would look into IRA's and being able to itimize.

Good Luck!

You can always try the IRS website at www.irs.gov

Answer 4

You can almost always do better by filing jointly. However, there might be special situations where that's not true. Therefore, the answer is "Ask a tax professional."

Answer 5

I think filing seperately only has benefit if you both make close to the same amount.

Answer 6

ask someone at H & R Block. or you can go on line to what ever state you live in and ask.most states have a web site that can answer your question

Answer 7

file jointly,,, the tax base for single is very unfair..