Married Filing Jointly: Advantages, Tax Credits and Who Qualifies

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What is married filing jointly?
- Federal: $79 to $139. Free version available for Simple Form 1040 returns only.
- State: $0 to $69 per state.
- Expert help or full service filing is available with an upgrade to Live packages for a fee.
Who can use the married filing jointly status?
- Divorce: If you were married but your divorce or separation was legally finalized during the tax year, the IRS considers you unmarried for the entire tax year, and you can’t choose married filing jointly as your filing status
.
- Annulment: If your marriage is annulled, you must file an amended tax return for certain years affected by the annulment. But note the statute of limitations, which is three years after you filed your original return or two years after you paid the tax, whichever is later.
- Death of a spouse: If your spouse died during the tax year or before filing your tax return, the IRS considers you married for the whole tax year, and you can choose married filing jointly as your filing status. If you remarry the year of your spouse's death, you can't file jointly with your deceased spouse — you must file either jointly or separately with your new spouse.
Tax credits for people married filing jointly
- Earned income tax credit. Low-to-moderate-income taxpayers may be able to claim up to $8,046 on 2025 tax returns filed in 2026.
- Child and dependent care credit. People caring for a child under 13 or a dependent with a disability can claim up to $2,100.
- American opportunity tax credit. Taxpayers can claim this credit for qualified education expenses, up to a maximum of $2,500.
- Lifetime learning credit. This credit covers certain education costs up to a maximum of $2,000.
2025 standard deduction married filing jointly
Married filing jointly vs. separately
- You have an income-based student loan repayment plan. Filing separately could lower your adjusted gross income (AGI), which could lower your monthly bill. However, you’ll want to consider this carefully and do the math. Certain education tax credits aren’t available to married couples filing separate returns.
- You have large, unreimbursed medical bills. Since you can only deduct medical bills that exceed 7.5% of your AGI, you might be able to deduct a greater amount by filing separately and reducing your AGI.
- You and your spouse have a specific tax situation. If your spouse has overdue taxes that you don’t want to be held liable for, if you’re in the middle of a divorce, or if you feel your spouse is being dishonest about tax information, filing separately could make sense for your situation.
Article sources
- 1. Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 2023. Accessed Feb 27, 2024.
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