Newly Married

wilsonh791
wilsonh791 Member Posts: 1 Newcomer
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I have always filed as a single person, but I recently got married. Do my husband and I need to start filing married jointly? We both have similar salaries and live in the same household. Which one of us files as head of household?

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  • Taxlady06
    Taxlady06 FreeTaxUSA Agent Posts: 69
    Answer ✓

    Once you are married, you have two filing options:
    -Married, filing jointly
    -Married, filing seperately

    For most taxpayers, filing jointly results in the most favorable outcome as many tax credits and deductions are limited when you file separately. However, there are some situations where filing separately can be more advantageous. You can create two accounts on FreeTaxUSA and enter you information each way to compare and determine which status would be best for you.

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  • CarleneF
    CarleneF FreeTaxUSA Agent Posts: 30
    Answer ✓

    If you are married, (except in rare cases) you will file as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately. Head of Household is generally for a single person with dependents. If you're married and file a separate return, you'll usually pay more tax than if you choose to file jointly.

    It's rare for Married Filing Separately to give you more refund than Married Filing Jointly. However, if you itemize your deductions and one spouse has a large amount of medical expenses or casualty losses, you may get more overall refund by filing separate returns.

    When someone chooses to file a separate return, it is usually because of reasons other than getting the largest refund, such as if one spouse may be cheating on their taxes and the other spouse doesn't want to be responsible for any tax problems the other spouse will have if he or she is audited.

    When you use the Married Filing Jointly status, you will enter the information for both of you on one tax return.

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