Tax and Marriage question

Ok, so i'm getting married on saturday. we're trying to figure out the best way to file our taxes from now on. i've heard several people say you get a break for being married, but i've heard just as many tell me to file separately. i dont know the first thing about doing taxes, i just plug info into turbo tax. i'm all ears for anyone who knows what they are talking about. hell, i dont even know who to contact to find this kind of stuff out.

BTW, this is a legitimate thread i dont want closed, so if anyone takes this as an opportunity to talk about any political shit i'll be reporting your post.

 

I just got married July of this year. I'd like to know as well... I cant really think of a reason to file separately though.

 

Buy turbo tax and put both of your information in there - it will tell you which one is better. I have been married for 3 years now and it has always benefited us filing jointly.

 

when we filed the first year after being married, my wife had changed her W2 to married yet I kept mine single, we did file jointly. come to find out, we lost money because of her married status for tax purposes.
We keep our W2 as single but file jointly.

 

Why would anybody not take this thread seriously, after the one about "taint-punching", "hating kids", and "pushing the little ankle-biters down the stairs" or whatever you were saying.

 

When you get married, your income, if you file jointly, it might be treated in a higher tax bracket, because your income is combined, that's why many talk about the "marriage penalty". I think you might be thinking of getting a break when you have a child. When me and my wife got married, which is close to the time of year you are getting married, we got slammed on federal and state income tax. I would go here right away and figure your deductions. http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96196,00.html

and here is some info..
http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/2007/01/marriage.html

Good luck!

 

thanks for the feedback guys. if i wanted to talk to a professional who should i contact? and dont say HR block or one of those rip off tax places. they fucked me hard when my apartment burned down. saying i had all kinds of write off's i ended up not being able to claim, i dont trust them at all

 

Turbo tax does it all. I got married last year and I file jointly...I haven't heard of any positive reasons for why one would want to file separately.

 

It's been many years (15) since I was single, but I'm pretty sure you get a 'break' when you're married - just not sure how much as I've never compared our taxes individually back then. There's so many factors that you have to consider.

Although, I will tell you.... In my own situation and if I remember correctly, I changed my W2 to 'married' and they didn't take enough out that year. I ended up putting my W2 back to 'single' so it would take the most out to stay safely covered. I'd rather get a refund than pay in.

It all depends on your situation......

I would recommend filing jointly but keep your W2's SINGLE for now and wait and see (at the end of a full year) how your taxes end up.

 

This. Turbotax or, better yet, a CPA, can tell you which option makes more sense for your personal finances.

 

my cousin is a firefighter and his wife is a cop, and for some reason it benefits them. not sure if its because they are both state employees or if its a tax bracket thing. i've heard the same from other people but i personally have no idea what the positives are

the only thing i can figure, is there is a tax break for married couples, but if your combined income puts you past a certain bracket, it overides the tax break and becomes a negative. i have no data to back this up, its just a theory based on what people have told me.

 

CPA might be a good idea. i prefer pro's that look at all variables as opposed to a program. i know Ttax is good but a program can only do so much. i may look into both routes though

 

I would call a CPA. Well, actually I wouldn't call anyone, I would do it myself. Do you have a complex tax situation? Like home sales, investment sales, gambling losses, etc?

 

just some stock investments. normally i do my own taxes, but with buying a house and getting married i'd like to talk to someone about this year. after that i can do it alone

 

Yeah, that might be more complex to handle for amatuers, like me and you. I would talk to a CPA like others have suggested. September is a great time to get married. Where's the honeymoon?

 

plus, this is the first year i've done any stock market investing, so not sure how all that ties in.

honeymoon is gonna have to wait. despite my obvious retardation in most aspects of my life, i'm pretty responsible with finances. i dont buy anything i cant afford to pay off when the bill arrives. i had to pay for all the closing costs, and we needed a TV and washer dryer and sofa and a bunch of stuff for the house so i'm pretty much tapped out. i could put a honeymoon on the credit card but i cant bring myself to do something that irresponsible/stupid. we are just taking a few days off and hanging out at the house naked and far from sober

 

This is exactly what I would recommend. Anytime you have major changes (buying a house, getting married, etc,) I think it is a good idea to speak with a CPA. They can look at all variables and recommend the best way to file your taxes. You can then just follow their advice and file your own taxes using TurboTax.

I would also suggest that you do this before tax season begins (Jan 31st). CPA's will not be as busy and will have more time to spend with you if you begin your planning early.

 

good point, especially about tax season being busy

 

We've been doing turbo tax, and going through and doing it both ways there's barely a difference to even worry about. I think we end up doing it jointly though.

And you're right the difference would come from your combined income vs. separate b/c of the different bracket cutoffs.

 

From what I can tell.....without kids in the mix......You can file seperately but your tax bracket will be higher than filing jointly and individual deductions for things will be lower than if filing jointly. We just have w-2 set on single and zero dependents then file jointly. As was stated, w-2 set on married and zero will yield a tax bill instead of a return without a shitload of deductions. There are different variables in all this when including dependents, deductions for different things, income amounts for everyone. You must tailor your shit to fit your circumstances to get the most out of filing taxes but must be proactive with the w-2's. These are my own experiences in TX. Places where you have state income taxes will probably bring another set of variables to the table as well...not sure because we don't have them.