All the tax gurus out there: I am married and we own a home.

I punched the numbers for two scenarios and found a significant difference:

1. Married filing jointly with all itemized deduction claimed together.
2. Married filing separately but I claim all the mortgage interests we paid as my deduction and plus I have some college tuition that I paid, but my wife claims standard deduction.

When we add the numbers up, we get more deduction on the second one (my itemized + her standard), and because my tax bracket goes down by a lot and I get a lot more back, even though she might have to pay some. But overall, we get more in return, almost $1000 more.

Is this legal? I talked to two people I know - who know more about tax than me, and one person said it was okay, while the other one said no.

Any advices!!

Thanks

Are all tax experts busy coz april 15 is coming soon??

I have also simialr case w/ a child. I anayzed two situations as you have said but havent come to conclusions yet.

If you are married, you must file married filing jointly to enjoy the deductions and credits. Married couple can file married filing separately (MFS) but there are some catches. And most of the cases you will be loosing certain credits because of MFS.

 

When you file, MFS the important rule, if you itemize, you spouse has to itemize too. Deductions are based on Apples to apples, oranges to oranges. Your are itemizing that mean she can not get standard deduction. She has to itemize and her itemized deduction will be $-0- , will lead to a higher taxable income. She will be pay more tax that your calculation.

 

Please, have new calculations as I said you will get your answer. Now you knew what to do.

Hasinam, guessing you got the right answer . स्याङ्जालीले भने जस्तै भयोकी भएन,

आजभोलि सैलेन्द्र कता हरायो, सित्तैमा tax को काम गर्छु भन्थ्यो .

When you file as: Married filing jointly you get a standard deduction of $10,700; if your itemized deductions are higher you should use your itemized deductions instead (of course!). But if you are filing as MFS then your std. deduction is that is of an individual i.e. $5,350 per individual. Only one of you can claim exemptions for your dependents, if you have any that is. In general, married couples may choose file either joint or separate returns, there is nothing illegal about that. Most couples choose to file joint returns since it’s easier to file one form rather than two, there are potential savings and also both husband & wife are liable for taxes owed rather than just one of you being liable! So, if you are going to get $1000 more and your wife's tax liability isn't greater than that you should file as MFS. Trick the system!