Tax Tips

Married Filing Jointly vs. Married Filing Separately

6 Minutes
March 21, 2022

“Which do we benefit more from, Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) or Married Filing Separately (MFS)?”

This is the main question I get from married taxpayers.

So, let’s tackle it.

Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) means you file one tax return, which includes the income and deductions for both spouses.

Married Filing Separately (MFS) means each spouse files their own return, and keeps income and deductions separate.

In most cases, as a married taxpayer, you are better off filing as MFJ because it comes with the most tax breaks. Here’s why…

BENEFITS OF MFJ

LOWER BRACKETS

First, how about we let the tax brackets speak for themselves.

2021 Regular Income Tax Rate	Taxable Income, Married Filing Separately	Maximum Tax Per Bracket (MFS)	Taxable Income, Married Filing Jointly	Maximum Tax Per Bracket (MFJ)
10%	$0 to $9,950	$995	$0 to $19,900	$1,990
12%	$9,951 to $40,525	$3,669	$19,901 to $81,050	$7,338
22%	$40,526 to $86,375	$10,087	$81,051 to $172,750	$20,174
24%	$86,376 to $164,925	$18,852	$172,751 to $329,850	$37,704
32%	$164,926 to $209,425	$14,240	$329,851 to $418,850	$28,480
35%	$209,426 to $314,150	$36,654	$418,851 to $628,300	$73,308
37%	$314,151 or more	No Max	$628,301 or more	No Max

Married taxpayers who file jointly get a tax rate of 10% on their first $19,990 in income, whereas MFS taxpayers only receive the 10% on their first $9,950. And so on as the rates increase on a marginal basis.

HIGH STANDARD DEDUCTIONS

On top of that, the biggest standard deduction is claimed on Married Filing Jointly tax returns. Check out the standard deductions below:

FILING STATUS	2021 TAX YEAR	2022 TAX YEAR
Single	$12,550	$12,950
Married Filing Separately	$12,550	$12,950
Head of Household	$18,800	$19,400
Married Filing Jointly	$25,100	$25,900

MORE CREDITS

When you file MFJ, you are often eligible to receive significant savings from tax credits. And filing MFS can cause you to lose or notably reduce the credits listed below:

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is for working people with low to moderate income.
The American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning Education Tax Credit is for those who are attending college, or have a spouse or child with college or graduate school tuition costs.
The Adoption Tax Credit is for legally adopting a child. Adopting a spouse’s child does not qualify for this credit.
The Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit is to offset child-care or caregiver costs.
The Child Tax Credit is for parents with dependent children who are under the age of 17.
The Credit for the Elderly and Disabled is for taxpayers who are age 65 and older or retired on permanent and total disability and with adjusted gross income under specific limits.

SAVE TIME AND MONEY

Filing jointly means one tax return, not two. Which helps you save time and if you are filing your taxes with a tax professional, it can also save you money by only paying for one return.

LESS COMPLICATED

Filing separately means you have to follow specific rules with standard and itemized deductions and claiming dependents. So, overall, it’s less of a headache for you to file Married Filing Jointly.

If you are married by December 31 of last year or earlier, you can file a Married Filing Jointly return.

WHEN TO FILE MARRIED FILING SEPARATELY

A majority of the time it is more beneficial to file a joint tax return. Although there are a few specific situations that call for a separate tax return, and unfortunately, a majority of them are issues within a marriage rather than tax savings.

You’re going to divorce. This one may seem obvious, but it’s the main reason to file Married Filing Separately. This filing status will help you avoid your spouse’s tax liability. When you file as MFJ, each spouse is responsible for the entire tax liability. Which means if you filed jointly and your spouse doesn’t pay or commits tax fraud, then you are equally responsible for it. In this case, filing separately keeps that liability separated, causing you to only be responsible for your own.
Your spouse isn’t paying their taxes. If your spouse decides to avoid taxes with the IRS, and you are not on board (which you shouldn’t be!), then you definitely should file your own taxes to avoid their tax liability. If this is the case, you and your spouse need to be on the same side when it comes to money decisions. This is a marriage issue if you are not in agreement with your spouse on how they are handling their money. Head here to see how finances better your marriage.
Your spouse isn’t honestly reporting their income or deductions. Again, another situation where you are filing separately to avoid your spouses tax liability. In this case you do not want any connection to a fraudulent tax return. If you file a joint return you are both responsible for the accuracy of the tax return. Yet again, you and your spouse should agree on how you handle your money. If you can’t trust your spouse enough to file a tax return with them, then what do you trust them with?
If you would save more on your taxes by filing separately. It is very rare to find yourself in a situation where filing separately is a greater advantage than a joint tax return. However, you always have the option to have a tax professional run the scenarios side-by-side to see what works best for your situation. There may be circumstances where you want to take medical expenses or other itemized deductions where you don’t have enough expenses with a MFJ status to take the deduction. If you do this though, your spouse will also have to claim itemized deductions and will not be able to take the standard deduction. So, it can be a very fine line where this actually works.

Always check with a tax professional on your particular tax situation to see what works best for you and your spouse. Stay informed this tax season with tax tips from the Better Than Yesterday blog!