There are a number of reasons to file married filing separate but it is generally more advantageous to fine jointly if you are married. The most common reason for MFS is to avoid liabilities from one of the parties of a marriage. For example on person has large spousal support payments that can not be made on their income alone. If they were behind on those payments the ex could ';attach'; any refund due from a MFJ return. By filing MFS that can generally be avoided. Past due IRS liens prior to the present marriage are also a frequent motivator.
There are reasons related to different levels of income but those are not as common.
For most folks filing MFS is the tax equivalent of standing in traffic and waiting for the IRS to run over you. That reality has brought consensus to a bunch of waring married couples.Why do Married Couples file taxes separately?
to get past the marriage tax
because sometimes you can save money,if one spouse makes big bucks and the other not so big, they are taxed at different rates. I suggest you do a hypo and figure out both ways then do it the way gives you more money.
Because they have the option to...
The tax brackets are different. If I make 50,000 a year and my wife makes the same, and we file jointly - we are taxed on 100,000. The percentage of that amount is taxed at a rate of 35-40% meaning we pay 35-40,000 in taxes total (city, state and federal). If we file seperate, we are taxed on 50,000 at a rate of 28 - 32% or a 15,000 average for a total of 30,000 in taxes owed. The 5-10,000 difference is what is called the marriage penalty.
Most file jointly. However if they have huge disparity in income they can file seperate as married. This would happen if one was a CEO and the other a janitor.
to get more money back?
Depending on the situation...like tax deductions %26amp; write offs or a business..sometimes you pay less tax if you file seperately.
If you use the MSN Tax Advisor site to estimate your taxes..it will tell you if it's better to file together or seperately.
Of course a CPA will do a better job cause they know all the rules %26amp; exceptions.
Why? Because sometimes it is in their best financial interest to do so. This often happens when one partner in the marriage makes substantial earnings above and beyond that of the other partner. It could also be because one partner has multiple financial interests and the other just has a simple full time job.
The best reason I can think of is one in which the couple is made up of two people who have been married before and insist on keeping their finances separate from each others. That way, when the refund check comes in from the State or the Federal Government it only has one name on it and the addressee is free to do whatever he or she wishes with it. Oh, sometimes it is a big bill to pay and the other party doesn't want to get in hock to the State or the Feds because of the other's financial messes. They are not really insulated from it by this, but it feels better.
The other answers didn't cover one other reason to file separately.
Once you sign the tax return you are attesting to the fact that the information is correct and can be held criminally liable if is later proven that it is not.
If one spouse suspects the other of criminal activities, such as selling strange white powder, they may want to file separately in order to protect themselves later down the road. You also may suspect that your spouse is providing false information on the return that you didn't want to be held liable for later.
Of course if you suspect your spouse of criminal activities you are probally faced with a whole litany of other problems.
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