Should We File Taxes Jointly or Separately After Getting Married in 2023?

So my wife and I tied the knot in December 2023 and now I'm confused about which tax filing status to choose for our first return as a married couple. She's been attending college and received financial aid last year. She's also been working full-time and paying tuition out of pocket, so thankfully no student loans hanging over our heads yet. The confusing part is she spoke with someone at FAFSA (I think?) who specifically told her we should file separately. But now I'm using this free tax website and it's recommending we file jointly instead. I'm getting mixed signals here! Our combined income is around $98k annually if that helps with the recommendation. I really don't want to mess this up and potentially impact her financial aid situation, but I also don't want to miss out on potential tax benefits if filing jointly is actually better for us. Can anyone clarify which filing status would be more beneficial in our situation?

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18 comments

Isabella Brown

•8M

Filing jointly vs separately when one spouse has financial aid is a tricky situation! The FAFSA advisor was likely concerned about how your combined income would affect future financial aid eligibility, not just your current tax situation. Generally, filing jointly provides better tax benefits for most couples (higher standard deduction, access to certain credits, better tax brackets). However, if your wife is receiving income-based financial aid, filing jointly could potentially reduce her eligibility since it would include both incomes. The right choice depends on comparing two factors: 1) How much would you save in taxes by filing jointly? 2) How much financial aid might be lost in future years? For the current tax year, run calculations both ways using your tax software to see the immediate tax difference.

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Isabella Brown

•8M

Filing your 2023 taxes jointly won't affect financial aid that was already received for the 2023-2024 academic year. The FAFSA for that period used income information from 2021 tax returns. However, your 2023 tax filing status will impact the 2025-2026 FAFSA, as that form will use information from your 2023 tax return. So it's really about weighing immediate tax savings against potential financial aid reductions two years from now. Many couples find the tax savings from filing jointly outweigh potential aid reductions, but it depends on your specific situation and what type of aid she receives.

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Aiden Rodríguez

•8M

After struggling with a similar situation last year, I found an amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that specifically helped me figure out the married filing jointly vs separately question when dealing with student financial aid. I uploaded our tax documents and it showed me a side-by-side comparison of both filing methods with the exact dollar amount difference. It also factored in how filing jointly would impact my partner's income-based student loan repayments and future FAFSA eligibility. In my case, we saved almost $2,500 by filing jointly, which was way more than the potential financial aid impact. Everyone's situation is different though.

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Aiden Rodríguez

•8M

It does analyze financial aid impacts based on the type of aid you're receiving. It uses the same formulas that FAFSA does to estimate how your filing status would affect future aid eligibility. For mid-program students like your wife, it's especially helpful since it can project multiple years of impact. The difference from regular tax software is it's specifically designed to handle these education-related financial decisions rather than just general tax prep. Most tax software will show you the tax difference between filing statuses but won't calculate the financial aid implications. It also doesn't try to sell you audit protection or state filing upgrades like those other services.

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Emma Garcia

•8M

I wanted to follow up here - I actually tried taxr.ai after asking about it. My situation was almost identical to yours - married last year and wife in school with financial aid. The tool showed we'd save $1,890 filing jointly for 2023, and the estimated impact on future financial aid was only about $800 for next academic year. It also helped us understand which specific grants would be affected and which wouldn't. For us, filing jointly made more sense financially. The side-by-side analysis made the decision super clear. Just make sure you know what specific type of aid your wife receives because some types aren't affected by income changes at all.

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Ethan Anderson

•8M

If you're having trouble getting clear answers about how your filing status affects financial aid, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was stuck in the same situation last year and spent DAYS trying to reach someone at the financial aid office who could actually help. Claimyr got me connected to a real financial aid counselor in under 15 minutes when I had been trying for weeks. They have this cool demo video (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) showing how it works. The financial aid officer I spoke with explained exactly how our tax filing would impact future aid eligibility and gave me documentation I could use to make an informed decision.

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Ethan Anderson

•8M

They use a callback system that essentially holds your place in line so you don't have to stay on the phone. It works with the existing phone systems these offices use but navigates the complicated menu options and wait times for you. The reason it works is because they've figured out the optimal times to call and which menu options get you to a real person faster. I was skeptical too until I tried it. It's not magic - they're just better at navigating the system than most of us are. Financial aid offices aren't intentionally hard to reach, they're just understaffed and overwhelmed with calls.

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Ava Kim

•8M

I feel like I need to update my skeptical comment from earlier. After waiting on hold with the financial aid office for 3+ hours and getting disconnected TWICE, I broke down and tried Claimyr. Got connected to a financial aid counselor in about 20 minutes. The counselor explained that in our case, filing jointly vs separately would make about a $3200 difference in taxes (filing jointly being better), but would reduce next year's aid eligibility by approximately $1800. So we're actually better off filing jointly even with the aid reduction. Every situation is different though - it depends on income levels, the specific aid programs, and how many more years of school are left.

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Lucas Notre-Dame

•8M

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if you file separately and want to take deductions like student loan interest, tuition and fees, or education credits, there are special rules. If you're married filing separately, you CANNOT claim the student loan interest deduction at all. And for some education credits, filing separately might make you ineligible too. Run the numbers both ways before deciding. In my experience, filing jointly almost always wins from a pure tax perspective. The financial aid question is separate and depends on your specific aid package.

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Lucas Notre-Dame

•8M

Most of the free tax sites can show you both scenarios, but you might need to create two separate tax returns (just don't file both!). Start one return as married filing jointly, note the refund/amount owed, then start a new return as married filing separately and compare. The standard sites aren't great at explaining the financial aid implications though. For that, you might want to talk to your wife's school financial aid office directly. They can often run projections showing how different income levels would affect her specific aid package. Some schools even have financial counselors who specialize in these situations.

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