What is the benefit from taxed as a single but filing as married filing jointly on tax return? | Filing Tax Return

Your husband should be more careful about where he gets his advice.

What you put on your W-4 has no impact on the total amount of taxes you pay once all is said and done. By claiming single-0 when he should be claiming married – 2 (or similar), he’s having more taxes taken out of his paycheck. That means bigger tax refunds but the same amount of money in your pocket when all is said and done. So it doesn’t really matter too much.

BUT: the person who gave your husband this advice obviously does not understand the time-value of money. Simply ask yourself this question: If the IRS called you and asked to borrow $ 5,000 in January, and they promise to pay you back next April (15 months later) at 0% interest, would you loan them the money? Probably not. By having too much tax withheld from your checks, you’re doing the same thing, just in smaller increments. You’re loaning your money to the IRS and waiting until later to get what is legally yours now.

EDIT: IF you both have jobs, its wise to put single on your W-4 forms simply because its more accurate, not because of ignorance about how great it is to get a tax refund.

keep filing as married, as long as you don’t make too much money (over $ 100k a year ) it is more advantageous to file together.
As far as changing the number of exemptions I think you (and many other people) don’t fully understand what the exemptions are.
The exemptions are a “forecast” of tax owed spread over the year, taken from your paycheck. ( an interest free loan paid to the government )

Yes, it is true if you set exemptions to 0 on form w-4 you will get more money after filing, but this is not “more money”…. this is the money you paid all year (withholdings)

to pay less tax, you need to make less taxable income, like putting a withholding in for a IRA or a 401k. This will make less taxable income. (health insurance is also ddeductiblei think, but only if you paid over 7.5% of your MAGI)

Your husband should be able to change health care from single to married independent of taxes.

If i was to recommend something I would say to reduce your wwithholdingby putting in the highest number of exemptions on your w-4 possible then setup a roth or 401k with some withholdings.. (say for example, the amount of your last tax return divided by the amount of paychecks per year) This way, instead of giving an interest free loan to the government, you give yourself an interest bearing account that is tax-defered or maybe even tax free.

Of course the rules get really goofy the more money you make, so if you make a good salary you should see a tax professional.

The benefit (if you call it a benefit) of having single on W-4 but filing the actual return is that your refund is bigger. But your paychecks are smaller – the total money is the same, you just get it once a year instead of through the year.

Health care premiums shouldn’t be affected by his W-4, but could be affected if he has ALL his paperwork filed as single.

in reality you and your husband should file the W-4 as you are legally entitled to do
filing Single is not his legal status
yes it would result in more taxes being withheld but you have learned the hard way that is has cost you more otherwise
IRS is not a bank, and they want you to file as you are legally entitled to do so that at filing time there is a minor adjustment between owing or getting refunds