Married Filing Separately

What are the disadvantages of filing as married filing separately?

When filing as a married filing separately, the taxpayer is disqualified from certain tax benefits such as:

• you cannot claim the standard deduction is your spouse itemizes deductions

• you cannot claim the earned income credit

• you cannot take the credit for adoption expenses

• you cannot claim the credit for the child and dependent care expenses in most cases

• you cannot deduct interest paid on a qualified student loan

• you cannot claim the education tax credits

• if you lived with your spouse at any time during the year:
  1. you cannot take the credit for the elderly or the disabled

  2. you cannot roll over amounts from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA

  3. you may have to include in income more of your social security benefits

I filed married filing separately last year, can I change to married filing jointly?

You can change your tax filing status from a married filing separately on your tax returns to a married filing jointly within 3 years from the due date of the separate returns by filing amended tax returns.

Can I change my tax filing status from married filing jointly to married filing separately?

You cannot change your tax filing status from a married filing jointly to a married filing separately after the due date of the tax return.