Should we file taxes married filing separately or jointly? Our refund disappeared when combining W-2s!

Wait, so even if I file separately, I can't claim student loan interest? My husband has a bunch of student loans and we've been deducting the interest. Would we lose that entirely?

That's correct. When you file separately, you cannot claim the student loan interest deduction at all. This is one of several tax benefits that are completely unavailable to those who choose married filing separately. For education credits, child and dependent care expenses, earned income credit, and more, you would also become ineligible when filing separately. These lost benefits often outweigh any potential advantage from filing separately, which is why most couples benefit from filing jointly despite sometimes seeing a surprising change in refund amounts.

Does this tool actually compare both filing options for you? Like does it show the difference in dollars between filing jointly vs separately?

I'm skeptical about tax tools since TurboTax always seems to miss stuff for me. Is this just another simplified calculator or does it actually dig into the details of why your withholding was off?

Yes, it absolutely compares both options and shows the exact dollar difference between filing jointly versus separately. It breaks everything down category by category so you can see precisely where you're gaining or losing money with each filing status. It goes way beyond what typical tax calculators do. It analyzes your withholding patterns across multiple paychecks and identifies specifically where your withholding is misaligned with your actual tax situation. In our case, it showed that my husband was having too little withheld while I was having too much withheld, and it provided the exact W-4 entries we needed to balance things out.

How does this Claimyr thing actually work? Like, are they just calling the IRS for you or what? I'm confused why it would be better than calling myself.

Yeah right. Nobody gets through to the IRS in 15 minutes. I once waited 3 HOURS and still got disconnected. This sounds like a scam to me.

They use a system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When an actual IRS agent picks up, you get a call connecting you directly to that agent. So instead of you personally waiting on hold for hours, their system does the waiting and only calls you when there's a real person ready to talk. I was super skeptical too! I've tried calling the IRS multiple times and either got disconnected or had to give up because I couldn't stay on hold all day. With Claimyr, I put in my number, went about my day, and got a call when an agent was on the line. Total game changer during tax season when IRS wait times are insane.

OMG I think you just solved it! I just checked our W-2s and his does show "Single" for the withholding rate even though we've been married for 3 years! That explains why we went from refund to owing when I added his income. Do we need to file a new W-4 with his employer to fix this for next year?

Yes, you'll need to submit a new W-4 to his employer right away to correct this for the current tax year. Make sure you select "Married filing jointly" on the form and consider if you need additional withholding in section 4(c) to cover any potential shortfall. For this year's taxes, unfortunately you'll still need to pay what you owe based on the incorrect withholding. But fixing the W-4 now will prevent the same problem next year. Also, double-check both your W-4s annually - employers sometimes make mistakes or don't update their systems properly.

Last year I calculated both ways and filing jointly saved us about $2,300 because of the tax credits we would have lost filing separately. Definitely worth running both calculations!