Skip to main content
March 8, 2020
Question

Why would my refund change, was filing jointly but when I changed it to separately it went up to $7K but it changed to deluxe so I had to redo & now my refund is $1K

  • March 8, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views
No text available

1 reply

Critter
Employee
March 8, 2020

Where to start .... first the Refund-O-Meter is only correct when you are completely finished with the return and have passed the REVIEW tab ... until that point the bottom line is floating. 

 

Next, you switched to filing separately ?  Did you remove all of the spouse's income and deductions yet ? When you change filing statuses you must complete the entire interview again to clear up the data entered. 

 

If you were legally married at the end of 2019 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately.

 

Married Filing Jointly is usually better, even if one spouse had little or no income. When you file a joint return, you and your spouse will get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $24,000 (+$1300 for each spouse 65 or older)  You are eligible for more credits including education credits, earned income credit, child and dependent care credit, and a larger income limit to receive the child tax credit.

 

If you choose to file married filing separately, both spouses have to file the same way—either you both itemize or you both use standard deduction. Your tax rate will be higher than on a joint return. Some of the special rules for filing separately include: you cannot get earned income credit, education credits, adoption credits, or deductions for student loan interestA higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. Your limit for SALT (state and local taxes and sales tax) will be only $5000 per spouse. In many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit. The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be affected.

 

If you live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional information regarding your spouse’s income. ( Community property states:  AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI) If  you are using online TurboTax to prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay twice.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separ...