Advantages of Married Filing Jointly

• One advantage of married filing jointly is the ease and cost of filing the return. Since you’ll only need to file one return, you’ll potentially save hundreds of dollars if you and your spouse’s income and deductions are complicated and require multiple schedules. Also, if one earner's income is substantially higher than the other's, the higher earner could benefit because his income will be taxed at a potentially lower tax bracket by combining with the lower income of the spouse. There are also some tax credits, such as the earned income credit, that make it advantageous to file jointly.
  
  

Advantages of Married Filing Separately

• In some cases, married filing separately might be preferred if one of the spouses has certain high expenses, such as large unreimbursed employee expenses or a high medical deduction. This is because these expenses are only deductible if they exceed certain minimum thresholds. For example, medical expenses are only deductible when they exceed 2 percent of the adjusted gross income shown on the tax return. This means if the adjusted gross income is $100,000, the 2-percent threshold would be $2,000. If you had total deductions for the year in the amount of $5,000, then $3,000 of the medical expenses would be deductible.
  
  

Determining Your Married Filing Status

• The tax code requires that you determine your filing status based on your marriage status on the last day of the current tax year. If you got married on Dec. 31, your only filing options are married filing jointly or married filing separately. In divorce cases, the only way to file as single is for a final divorce decree to be issued by the court on or before Dec. 31 of the current tax year.
  
  

Considerations

• When you file jointly with your spouse, you are both responsible for the accuracy of the return, even if the other spouse filed the return. There is certain relief available for innocent spouses involved in inaccurate returns, but this requires a petition with the IRS. You are also both equally responsible for the tax liability. For example, if your income was $5,000 and your spouse's was $95,000, you could be equally responsible for the total tax liability, and not just the tax created by your $5,000 income.