Question

Married in 2021 - Filing Jointly - Two separate buttons change state return in Iowa from negative to positive

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
February 6, 2022
1 reply
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Hello,

I got married in 2021 and am filing taxes for my wife and I.

I noticed that when I put 'Filing Status' for Iowa Taxes the return went to owing $653. If I put "Married Filing Separately on Combined Return" it goes to us getting a return of $548. Why such a steep change? I was under the impression filing jointly was more helpful.

Thank you

TurboTax Free Edition Online

V

Vanessa A

This could be for one of 2 reasons. If one of you made more than the other or had more withheld than the other, one persons withholdings or lower income may be offsetting the other persons withholdings or higher income.

When you are changing your status to filing separately, the $548 refund is only for the person that the return is being prepared for. The other person may end up owing $1,201, possibly more or less.

The other reason is some couples just make out better filing separately. These are usually couples who are not taking credits that are disallowed when filing separately. Before you file, you should create a second TurboTax account and see what the other persons refund will be. If your combined refunds are greater when you file separately, then you can file separate using the second account. If you find that the net result is the same either way, then you can delete your information in the other return and file a joint return.

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