Ireland

I would suggest that you go to walmart and get one of the tax kits in a box and try filing it out yourself both ways…
whatever you decide,
NO YOU CANNOT CLAIM EACH OTHER on your taxes if there are two returns.

Savannah

Hi! You cannot claim single if you are legally married as a man and woman, husband and a wife. You may want to each claim one exemption this year as presently you are giving the Federal government an interest free loan.

Married Filing Jointly or filing separately? If one of you made a large income and the other a small income, you should input in to the software Married Filing Separately as well as Married Filing Jointly. You should do it both ways to see which is better for your family. You could put a large amount of
itemized deductions or education, residential energy credits, tuition and fees deduction, etc, on the side of the spouse with the large income. If the spouse with the larger income made the withdrawal and the account was in both of your names, you could split it evenly and try. However, 85% or more of the time it is better to file Married Filing Jointly {long story}. It would flow to the State and you may have a lower income tax liability with the State as well. If you live in Ohio, it is different. You are better off taxwise to file separately in Ohio. This doesn’t happen often, but it does occur. You would not be trapped in to filing Married Filing Separately in subsequent years. You have the filing option every tax year.

Matthew

It is usually (but not always) better to file jointly. No matter how you file You cannot claim each other tho

Trystan

There is no such thing as “single filing separately”. The only two possibilities for married couples are “married filing separately” and “married filing jointly”.

In almost every case, it is far better for the couple to file jointly. The only way to be sure in your particular case is to run the numbers both ways and see which way works out better for both of you. You can do this on any of the online filing services, or just get the paper forms and fill in the numbers yourself and see how they look. It’s *really*not that difficult. Just plug in the numbers and then add or subtract as the directions tell you.

But to answer your question, no, if you choose “married filing separately”, you don’t get to claim each other.

Ahmed

You have to file either, MFS or MFJ. There is no Single Filing Separately. You and your wife cannot claim each other on your tax return if you file MFS.

Finley

You have only 2 choices — Married Filing Jointly and Married Filing Separately.

If you file a joint return you will claim 2 personal exemptions on that return, one for each of you.

If you file separately you’ll each claim a single personal exemption on your individual returns. You don’t “claim” each other on separate returns.

In most cases you’ll pay less total tax with a joint return, though you can run the numbers both ways and file whichever way results in the lowest tax over all.