Is it better to file joint or separate for a newly married couple?

Filing jointly is almost always better for most married couples, especially in your situation. When you file jointly, you get higher standard deduction thresholds and more favorable tax brackets compared to filing separately. Since you both have similar incomes ($160K and $155K), you likely won't face much of a "marriage penalty" that sometimes affects couples when both have high incomes. Without kids, property, or other significant deductions, the simplified joint return will probably save you money and hassle. The main reasons to file separately are pretty specific: if one spouse has significant medical expenses (over 7.5% of AGI), unreimbursed business expenses, or income-based student loan payments. Also if one spouse is concerned about liability for tax issues from the other. None of these seem to apply in your situation.

After spending hours trying to figure out whether to file jointly or separately with my spouse last year, I stumbled on this tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it saved me so much time. It analyzed our situation with student loans, different income levels, and everything else, then showed us exactly how much we'd pay under each filing status. The best part was it explained WHY one option was better for our specific situation - turned out filing separately actually saved us money because of my wife's income-based student loan payments, even though most generic advice said to file jointly. It's like having a tax pro who can instantly run multiple scenarios for you.

I was super skeptical about taxr.ai at first (seemed too good to be true), but after manually doing calculations for hours and getting nowhere, I finally tried it. Holy cow - it found that filing separately would save me nearly $3,800 because of my income-contingent student loan plan! None of the generic advice articles mentioned my specific situation. The analysis broke down exactly where the savings came from - I paid about $1,200 more in taxes filing separately, but saved nearly $5,000 in student loan payments over the year. Would have never figured that out on my own. Definitely worth checking out if you're in a similar situation trying to decide between joint vs separate.

If you're trying to contact the IRS to ask about your specific situation with filing jointly vs separately, good luck! I spent 3 weeks trying to get through to someone who could help with our complicated scenario. Finally found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they use some tech to hold your place in line and call you when an agent is about to pick up. The IRS person was super helpful and walked me through exactly what would happen in our situation if we filed jointly vs separately.

Ok I have to eat my words. After posting that skeptical comment, I was still desperate to talk to the IRS about a filing status question similar to yours. Tried Claimyr and got through to an agent in about 45 minutes (without having to actually be on hold myself). The agent walked me through all the specifics of our situation - turns out filing jointly was actually going to cost us money because of my wife's income-based student loan situation. For what it's worth, the IRS agent said most couples in your situation (similar incomes, no kids, no property) will benefit from filing jointly, but it's always worth running the numbers both ways. Also said there's a little-known education credit phase-out that can sometimes make filing separately better for high-earning couples with education expenses.

My spouse and I were in almost the same situation last year (similar incomes, no kids). We ran the numbers both ways and found we saved about $2,300 by filing jointly. The biggest advantage was the higher standard deduction and better tax brackets. Double check if either of you has any weird tax situations like casualty losses, medical expenses over 7.5% of income, or miscellaneous itemized deductions. Those are the main things that might make separate filing better.

Has anyone here actually filed separately and found it beneficial? My accountant keeps insisting joint is always better but I'm not convinced.

For your income levels ($160K and $155K), filing jointly is most likely going to be your best bet. With similar incomes, you won't hit the marriage penalty that affects couples where one spouse earns significantly more than the other. The math usually works out like this: joint filing gives you a higher standard deduction ($27,700 for 2023 vs $13,850 each filing separately), and you'll benefit from the more favorable tax brackets. Without kids or significant itemized deductions, you're looking at probably $2,000-4,000 in tax savings by filing jointly. The main exceptions where separate might be better: - If either of you has federal student loans on income-driven repayment (could lower monthly payments) - Significant medical expenses over 7.5% of your individual income - One spouse has tax debt/issues you don't want to be liable for Since you just got married in September, this is also a good time to update your W-4s with your employers to adjust withholding for next year based on your new filing status. Congrats on the marriage, and welcome to the world of joint tax planning!