Recently Married in Virginia- Do we file separately or jointly?
Hi all! I recently got married (yay!) and am starting a new job on Monday, so here come the tax forms…
My new spouse and I are on the fence when it comes to filing separately or jointly. Federally, it doesn’t seem like it would make much difference, but Virginia (where we both live) has a Spouse Tax Adjustment, which states “married couples filing jointly on Form 760 may reduce their tax by up to $259 with the STA if each spouse received income during the taxable year. Two-income couples filing a jointly return will not pay more than the combined tax that would be due if separate returns were filed.” It seems like it would be advantageous but we’re confused if filing jointly would actually give us a substantial advantage or not.
Pertinent information:
-I will make $58,000 (before insurance); made $50,000 this previous tax year
-I have a side gig (1099) that made $1,927 this previous tax year
-Spouse makes $70,000 (also before insurance)
-Spouse contributes to his IRA fund. With my new job, I’m hoping to contribute to my IRA now that I’ll actually have money to save.
-We own a home and claim it equally
-Neither of us have loans or any debt (besides our house haha!)
-Neither of us have any dependents
-We both have just taken the standard deduction in the past, as our returns were more than if we itemized
Thanks in advance for your help and insight! We have heard horror stories of friends getting married and actually owing WAY more in taxes once they filed jointly, so we’re trying to avoid that.