Did anyone file taxes as "married filing separately" and save money that way?

[citymama]

It's April 13 - must be time to turn our attention to taxes! So I was filling out taxes on Turbo Tax last night and if we file with our usual status, Married Filing Jointly, we get slammed with owing $1000 to the Feds and - wait for it - $4500 to California! Gulp. I am not sure what explains it other than the fact that I don't think my employer is deducting as much taxes as they should.

Well, I played with a few options, such as itemized versus standard deductions, and then figured, why not see what it looks like if we file "married filing separately"? Well, when I went back and did that, we come out owing about the same to the Feds but getting a $1000+ refund from CA! I have no way to account for it, other than the fact that this was only for one person - Turbo Tax won't plug in my DH's info if we're filing separately coz they want us to buy the software again and plug in his numbers again. I have no way of knowing what they did with DD (is she a dependent on my return, or both of ours, or neither?) and whether they allocated for instance the entire childcare credit to me.

A couple of questions:
--did anyone find "married filing separately" advantageous in a 2-income family? Anyone in CA find it helped that much with CA taxes?
--is there a way to see how Turbo Tax allocated the various deductions and credits between us, or to get it to do both our returns on a single account so I can see how the math is going to work out for DH? I may not even want to file separately if DH is going to be slammed with high taxes.

Thanks for any suggestions!

[citymama]

bump - anyone?

[KrisM]

No help on the differences, but I'm fairly positive you can do as many tax returns with one copy of Turbo Tax as you want. Did you try starting another new return? I have the basic version and it lets me start another with no problem.

[AnnieW625]

I have never filed separately, but California approved a major tax hike starting in September so your ER probably isn't aware of that change. They also reduced the child deduction quite a bit this year. We have to mail the state a check for $562 tomorrow!

Good luck! Do you know someone who might be able to help you out like a CPA?

[mommyp]

:yeahthat:
We've never filed separately either, but that's what happened to us too. Mailing a check to CA for about $800 tomorrow. And off to HR to make sure they deduct more! Good luck!

[hez]

Yes. We saved a ridiculous amount (an amount you wouldn't walk by)-- combination of state & federal. It used to be strictly a savings on our state taxes (Ohio), but this year our federal taxes were lower filing MFS, also.

Turbo Tax used to be a pain to run scenarios in-- I got into the habit of saving multiple files and keeping an Excel spreadsheet with the details of how I split up the deductions for each version. Then, I file the version that saves our family the most money. I'm sure there's a simpler way to run scenarios, but I didn't have time to figure it out this year.

[infocrazy]

When we first got married, 6+ yrs ago, when you chose your filing status on tubo tax, there was a help section there. If you clicked it, there was an option to compare the 2 married options. They ask all the way through who the deuction/income belongs to so hopefully they still have that option.

[sewarsh]

We did or taxes last night and had MAJOR swing from prioro year even though most things were the same (see different post).

I just tried to married filing jointly and we went from $2065 OWE to Fed to $120 REFUND from Fed. WTF?? Turbo Tax said I have some things to change relating to several boxes i checked throughout the return, which i'll have to later when have time, but I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS!

If this is Correct, that's $2200 swing and I will MAKE OUT with OP for suggesting this!!!! :)

[nrp]

We did or taxes last night and had MAJOR swing from prioro year even though most things were the same (see different post).

I just tried to married filing jointly and we went from $2065 OWE to Fed to $120 REFUND from Fed. WTF?? Turbo Tax said I have some things to change relating to several boxes i checked throughout the return, which i'll have to later when have time, but I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS!

If this is Correct, that's $2200 swing and I will MAKE OUT with OP for suggesting this!!!! :)

As OP pointed out, when you changed TT to married-filing-separately, the new amount owed/refund number applied only to the primary taxpayer, and, I'm guessing, TT applied all of the itemized deductions to that return. So, you'll have to go back and do a new return for the other spouse, without any (or few) deductions. I am betting that when you do that, you'll owe on that return. Generally, married filing jointly is the better option for most people. Of course, you won't know it until you run both scenarios. I just tried to do it myself on TT, and I couldn't see an easy way to compare without doing a whole new return. But, perhaps someone else will know a shortcut.

[codex57]

In CA, being a community property state, if you guys are still married, living in the same house, not separated, etc, all income and stuff is attributed to the other spouse as well. Plus, as a PP mentioned, if you run it with only one spouse, that spouse might get all the deductions but that just means the other one gets screwed and likely owes. Prolly get balanced out at the end.

[citymama]

We did or taxes last night and had MAJOR swing from prioro year even though most things were the same (see different post).

I just tried to married filing jointly and we went from $2065 OWE to Fed to $120 REFUND from Fed. WTF?? Turbo Tax said I have some things to change relating to several boxes i checked throughout the return, which i'll have to later when have time, but I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS!

If this is Correct, that's $2200 swing and I will MAKE OUT with OP for suggesting this!!!! :)

:rotflmao:

Well, I hope it works out for you! I agree with the PP, this might benefit just one of you and the other will be stuck with higher taxes, so make sure that you correctly run both scenarios before choosing which way to file.


In CA, being a community property state, if you guys are still married, living in the same house, not separated, etc, all income and stuff is attributed to the other spouse as well. Plus, as a PP mentioned, if you run it with only one spouse, that spouse might get all the deductions but that just means the other one gets screwed and likely owes. Prolly get balanced out at the end.

Yep, you are right. DH ran both scenarios on print copies of our 1040s and CA forms, and it's virtually a wash in both scenarios. We're going to file jointly, as we have every year, and have to stomach paying out $5000 we thought we had in the bank. :( I will also have my employer decrease my deductions, so I'm at married 1 instead of 2. Hopefully next year we'll get a refund since we'll have 2 dependents and probably a lower income with our parental leave and part-time work post-baby.

Thanks everyone!