Newly married tax filing optimization question - MFJ vs Single for lowest tax burden?
Just got married in 2024 and trying to figure out the best way to file our taxes to minimize what we owe. I make around $230k and my wife makes about $105k. We don't have any kids yet and we're still renting an apartment. Should we file as married filing jointly or should we each file as single to get our tax bill as low as possible? What's the most advantageous way to go? Also, we're planning to buy a house in 2025. Would that change what's best for us tax-wise next year? One more thing - we both currently max out our Roth 401ks if that matters for the calculation.
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Miguel Castro
Congrats on the marriage! So first thing to know - you don't actually have the option to file as "single" once you're married. Your choices are "married filing jointly" (MFJ) or "married filing separately" (MFS). For most couples, especially with incomes like yours, MFJ usually results in a lower total tax burden. The married filing separately status tends to have higher tax rates and eliminates several tax breaks. With your combined income, filing jointly is almost certainly your better option. As for buying a house in 2025 - yes, this could impact your tax situation. When you own a home, you might be able to deduct mortgage interest and property taxes if you itemize deductions (instead of taking the standard deduction). With your income level, itemizing could be beneficial once you have a mortgage.
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Zainab Ibrahim
•Does the "marriage penalty" not come into play with their income levels? I thought higher earners sometimes pay more when filing jointly.
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Miguel Castro
•The "marriage penalty" has been significantly reduced with recent tax law changes. While it can still exist in certain situations, it's less common now. For this couple, even though they're both high earners, filing jointly will still likely be more beneficial than married filing separately. MFS comes with significant limitations like reduced IRA contribution limits, no student loan interest deductions, and higher tax rates for the same income levels.
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Connor O'Neill
I had a really similar situation last year after getting married! Tried figuring it out on my own for weeks and just kept going in circles. Finally I used https://taxr.ai to analyze our returns from the previous year when we were single and compare them to our potential options as a married couple. Saved us like $4,200 versus what we were going to do! The tool looked at all our deductions, retirement contributions, and even suggested some strategies specific to our situation that I never would have known about.
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LunarEclipse
•How long did that take to do? I'm also newly married and have been dreading figuring this all out.
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Yara Khalil
•Did it actually tell you specifically what to do different? Or just give generic advice like "file jointly"?
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Connor O'Neill
•It took about 10 minutes to upload our previous returns and answer a few questions. Super quick compared to the hours I spent trying to figure it out myself. It gave us very specific recommendations based on our situation, not just generic advice. It showed exactly how much we'd save by filing jointly vs separately, analyzed our retirement contribution strategy, and even identified a specific deduction we qualified for based on some freelance work I did. Really detailed breakdown.
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Yara Khalil
Just wanted to update - I tried https://taxr.ai after seeing this thread and it was seriously helpful! Our situation was more complicated than I realized with some stock options and rental income. The analysis showed we'd save almost $3k by filing jointly and timing some stock sales differently. It even showed how our tax situation would change once we buy a house next year. Wish I'd known about this sooner!
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Keisha Brown
If you're planning to call the IRS to ask about this, good luck lol. I spent 3 HOURS on hold last week trying to get someone to answer a similar question. Finally found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. They have this demo video (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) showing how it works. The agent I talked to confirmed that for most couples, joint filing is better, but there are some exceptions they helped me identify based on our specific situation.
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Paolo Esposito
•Wait how does that even work? I thought the IRS hold times were just something everyone had to suffer through?
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Amina Toure
•Sounds like BS honestly. No way they can magically get through the IRS phone system when millions of others can't.
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Keisha Brown
•It works because they use technology that continuously calls and navigates the IRS phone system for you. When they finally get through, they connect the call to your phone. You don't have to sit there listening to the hold music for hours. It's not magic, just smart automation. They basically wait in line for you. I was skeptical too until I tried it and got connected to an IRS agent in about 17 minutes while I was just going about my day.
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Amina Toure
Ok I need to eat my words. I was the skeptic in the thread but I broke down and tried Claimyr today after spending TWO DAYS trying to get through to the IRS myself. Got connected in 22 minutes! The agent explained exactly how the marriage tax considerations would apply to my situation (similar income to OP but with some additional investment income). Definitely filing jointly this year. Saved me so much frustration!
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Oliver Weber
With your income levels (~$230k + $105k), you're definitely going to want to file jointly. I'm a financial advisor and run these calculations all the time. MFJ will almost certainly be better than MFS in your situation. Regarding the Roth 401ks - just make sure you're not exceeding income limits. For 2025 filing, the income phase-out for Roth IRA contributions starts at $230k for MFJ. Your 401ks should be fine though.
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Ava Williams
•Thanks for the advice! Just to clarify - are there income limits for Roth 401k contributions? I thought those were just for Roth IRAs.
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Oliver Weber
•You're absolutely right, and I should have been clearer. There are no income limits for Roth 401k contributions - those limits only apply to Roth IRAs. With your combined income, you would likely be in the phase-out range for direct Roth IRA contributions, but your Roth 401k contributions are completely fine regardless of income level. That's one advantage of the 401k version.
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FireflyDreams
Has anyone considered that they might be better off delaying the house purchase until they figure out their tax situation? My wife and I bought in 2024 and it completely changed our tax planning.
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Natasha Kuznetsova
•I wouldn't delay a major life decision like buying a house just for tax reasons. The benefits of homeownership typically outweigh any short-term tax optimization.
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FireflyDreams
•Good point. I guess I was just thinking about our experience where the timing of our home purchase affected which year we could first claim certain deductions. But you're right - probably not worth delaying such a major life decision.
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