Tax Tip of the Week: Married Couples Filing Joint or Separate

January 16, 2017LaQuetta McCormick-SmithTax Tip Of The WeekNo comments

Marriage is a beautiful thing! Now while you may merge all of your assets and finances together to make it work, some people still prefer to keep things like their taxes separate.

Now while we are all for people being independent and doing their own thing, there are much more benefits to filing a joint tax return with your spouse then separate. First off your tax rate is higher, and secondly you won’t be able claim:
• Education benefits
• Earned income credit
• Child and Dependent Care credit
• Adoption credit
• Itemized deductions, if your spouse has already claimed the standard deduction, or the other way around.

You also would receive a standard deduction of $6300, versus the $12600 offered to those filing together. If either of you are in school, or still paying on loans, you can’t take the deduction for student loan interest or the tuition and fees deduction.