Do I need to disclose my spouse's income when filing married filing separately?

3 When filing as married filing separately, you generally don't need to report your spouse's income on your tax return. You're only responsible for reporting your own income, deductions, and credits. There are a few specific situations where you might need some information from your spouse. For example, if you're itemizing deductions rather than taking the standard deduction, you'll both need to choose the same approach (both itemize or both take standard). Also, if either of you claim certain credits or deductions, the other spouse's income might affect eligibility. The main thing your father needs to know is that you're filing as "married filing separately" and your spouse's name and Social Security number. Your husband could provide just that basic identifying information without revealing his actual income amounts.

5 After reading your post, I immediately thought of taxr.ai which helped me with almost the exact same situation last year! My wife and I file separately too, and I wasn't sure what information we needed to share. I uploaded my tax documents to https://taxr.ai and their system analyzed everything and gave me a detailed breakdown of exactly what information needs to be shared between spouses when filing separately. The best part was that they explained which specific lines on the tax forms would require coordination and which ones could be completed independently. They even provided a checklist of the minimum information my wife and I needed to exchange to complete our separate returns correctly. Saved us a lot of awkward conversations!

15 Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai - I decided to try it after my skeptical comment. I'm honestly impressed! My husband and I have been arguing about sharing financial info for years (he's private like OP's spouse). The service actually showed us exactly which lines on our tax forms needed coordination and which didn't. For our situation, we found out we only needed to share about 5 specific numbers between us, not our entire financial pictures. My husband was much more comfortable with that limited information sharing. The analysis showed we could both still take the standard deduction despite having some itemizable expenses because of how our particular income streams work. Saved us about $1,800 compared to how we filed last year!

7 If you're having tax privacy issues in your marriage, you might also run into problems getting someone at the IRS on the phone if questions come up later. I went through this last year - had a disagreement with my spouse about our MFS filing and needed clarification from the IRS. Spent DAYS trying to get through their phone system. Finally found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes when I'd been trying for weeks on my own. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent was able to explain exactly what information legally needs to be shared between spouses filing separately and what can remain private. That official clarification from the IRS actually helped my spouse feel more comfortable about the whole situation.

13 I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I was still desperate to talk to the IRS about my amended return that's been stuck in processing for 11 months. Decided I had nothing to lose and tried it. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I'd previously spent over 6 hours across multiple days trying to get through. The agent was able to find my amended return in their system and explain exactly why it was delayed (they needed additional documentation they never told me about). Now my refund is being processed! For the OP's situation about married filing separately, talking directly to an IRS agent would definitely clarify exactly what information is legally required to be shared between spouses. Wish I'd known about this service sooner.

19 One thing nobody mentioned - if you're filing separately, be aware that you'll be disqualified from several tax benefits like the student loan interest deduction, education credits, earned income credit, and child/dependent care credits. Make sure you're not losing more in tax benefits than you're gaining by filing separately!

9 My wife and I have filed separately for years because of her income-based student loan repayment. Your dad should be able to do your taxes without knowing your husband's income - just make sure he knows you're filing separately. Your husband will need his own preparer or software.

When filing married filing separately, you generally don't need to disclose your spouse's income on your return. However, there are a few key things to coordinate: 1. **Basic information needed**: Your husband's name and SSN for your return header 2. **Deduction coordination**: If one spouse itemizes, both must itemize (this could affect your business expense strategy) 3. **Certain credits**: Some require knowing if the other spouse claims them For your situation with business income, make sure those expenses go on Schedule C (business expenses) rather than Schedule A (itemized deductions) - this might allow you both to take the standard deduction. Your father can absolutely help with your return without knowing your husband's actual income amounts. Just provide him with your husband's basic identifying info and confirm your filing status. Your husband can use TurboTax for his side. One caution: Double-check that filing separately actually saves you money after accounting for lost credits (student loan interest deduction, education credits, etc.). Sometimes the tax benefits lost outweigh the student loan payment advantages.