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ChiChat 18: CAR MODS GALORE; CAR PROBLEMS GALORE
- Thread starter jay745
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OmniGLH
Autocross Newbie
Yeah, almost always, filing jointly is better. Married-filing-separately, you lose stuff like child tax credit and a few other things. It's rare that it works out in your favor.
The problem with married-filing-jointly assumes that there is one income earner in the household, and the other stays home. So while it doesn't get written down as WHICH spouse is the "dependent", the rules assume that ONE of them is.
That is why most households, where both spouses work, you need to have EXTRA taken out of your paycheck above and beyond the standard amount. Because the standard amount does not take into consideration what your spouse makes.
If you make $100k/yr, and your spouse doesn't work, for 2019 you're taxed at 22% for Federal. At the end of the year, all's good - you reconcile and if you paid more than 22% you get a refund. Most of the time, you paid too much because stuff like mortgage interest, property taxes, childcare expenses, etc. can be deducted from your income and hopefully, with enough deductions, you make it to a lower tax bracket than what your flat salary would suggest.
However - If you make $100k/yr, and your spouse ALSO makes $100k/yr, your respective employers would only tax you each at 22% (because they do not know how much your spouse makes). But since you file jointly, your combined income is $200k. The correct tax amount for $200k is actually 24%. You both UNDERpaid by 2% each. You may owe! In some cases, you still come out OK with a small refund due to the deductions and stuff I referenced in a previous paragraph.
Where it gets to be really fun is if you make $200k, and your spouse only works part time and makes $40k. Your spouse's employer only takes 12%... but at the end of the year, you're taxed at 24% for the full $240k. You're 12% short for the money your spouse brought in. That's usually a BIG "you owe".
For reference, the 2019 brackets: https://taxfoundation.org/2019-tax-brackets/
Today's lesson brought to you by my employer's free coffee service.
Cadubya
Autocross Newbie
There’s a “head of household” box no?
You precisely described why it’s not worth me working. My extra 40-50k bumps us up a bracket and then we’d need to pay someone for all the improvements I’m doing on the house. And I’d have crap vacation time. Which doesn’t work with how much my wife travels. Plus, the doggies.
BoostedVW11
Drag Racing Champion
Lol @ employers free coffee service
I learned a lot here^ thanks for explaining
Every year i say im gonna get a load of deductible stuff filed for taxes...i never do though. Some people are very talented with getting tax write offs, i am not one of those.
2 hashtags i wish were in more states
Texas > Illinois
OmniGLH
Autocross Newbie
Indeed there is. I don't know exactly how/why/when you'd want to use it, for a year-end final tax filing though. I also believe that then requires separate filings (you and your spouse each filing their own returns), and then that gets messy when it comes to marital assets, who claims what deductions (taxes, mortgage interest, child expenses, etc.) because you can't BOTH claim that stuff.
Yeah I can absolutely see that. There's such a big jump in tax brackets at the $80k mark, it definitely can have an impact.
And really, if both of you are cool with your arrangement... fuck everybody else. Having someone home full time to manage the house, be there for deliveries and repair appointments etc is definitely worth something.
Cadubya
Autocross Newbie
Unless you have a lot of tax liability, the standard deduction is going to be your choice. Trump got rid of or reduced a lot of deductions you can take and increased the amount of the standard deduction, thus simplifying filing for most people.
BoostedVW11
Drag Racing Champion
Bingo^
If i was at home all day id probably have to have a written calendar/ weekly schedule planned out . Pencil in your first range day :iono:
very true
Cadubya
Autocross Newbie
Yep, especially with my wife’s schedule. She can focus totally on work and not have to worry about anything else. That’s worth a whole lot to her. And it seems to be working to our benefit lol.
OmniGLH
Autocross Newbie
Well this year, unless you have a SHIT ton of deductions, it probably won't make a difference.
In addition to a lower overall tax *rate*, the "standard deduction" was also doubled. Prior years, it was ~$6k for single, $12k for married. Now it's $12k for single and $24k for married.
That means you need to get up and over that threshold before any additional deductions have any impact because you automatically get the standard deduction. So doing $50 here and $20 there, gonna be tough to hit that number - especially if you don't own your own home.
The guys who claim TONS and TONS of deductions usually own a business - they can claim losses, expenses, etc.
Cadubya
Autocross Newbie
BoostedVW11
Drag Racing Champion
How do you guys feel about permanently being on daylight savings time? (more light year round, less light in early morning)
Yep, business expenses seem like a nightmare to manage on a company level.
sterkrazzy
Autocross Champion
The people voted for that last year in FL, but congress hasn't done anything with it yet.
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