Question about married filing jointly

osaaxmat

So I always been filing as married filing jointly since I got married, my wife wasn’t working until last year she joined a private school as a teacher, she worked 5 months in 2024 and according to her W2 she earned $14,000 and paid about $850 in federal taxes her annual income is $28,000.
Like every other year I am planning to file as married filing jointly when I am entering only my W2 data I am breaking even (just $22 refund) but when I enter my wife’s W2 i am owing IRS $2200 our combined wages is &169,000 (my 155.000 and her’s 14,000). I have paid adequate federal taxes throughout 2024 on my wages and she paid proper federal taxes on her wages in 2024 but when we are combining our income we are owing IRS money .. something i cant understand why. I tried filing separately but then my tax alone is -$9000. Is there a way i can get any refund or break even?

KristineS

Hi osamatax,

Welcome to the Community and thanks for your question.

If you were married as of December 31, 2024 you have the option to file married filing jointly or married filing separately.

Annual income of $28,000 with only $850 of tax withheld is not very much withholding tax, especially when combined with your income, and assuming you're in the 22% income tax bracket, or higher. If I understand that correctly, this could be the reason you owe.

I would recommend creating three separate accounts:

1. You and your spouse MFJ
2. You as MFS
3. Your spouse as MFS

Please keep a good record of all the different accounts. This will allow you to create the three separate returns and see what your tax/refunds amounts look like. Filing separately is almost always less advantageous than filing jointly.

If you live in a Community Property state please read this article here from our Community.

If you would like to log into your account and get help from Support, we can look at your return and offer a more in-depth explanation since all facts and circumstances on your tax return matter.