In this one-minute moment, Dr. Friday delves into the intricacies of itemized deductions for couples filing their taxes separately. While one might think it’s as simple as taking the standard deduction, the IRS has specific rules that could surprise you. Learn how mortgage payments and charitable contributions play a role in this decision and why it’s essential to be informed before making your choice.
Transcript
G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s tax and financial firm. To get more info go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.
My spouse and I are filing separate returns. How do we split our itemized deductions? If you are filing, married filing separately, the one that is not paying, because so often what happens is one individual is paying the mortgage, maybe even doing the charitable contribution so they’re exceeding the single standard and the other individual says, oh, I’ll just take the standard deduction. Yeah, the IRS says nope. So if the one person is taking it all on their side, guess what? That other person has to take zero or what they actually paid out of their pocket when itemizing. Married filing separately may be more complicated than you thought. Check us out at drfriday.com.
You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from two to three p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.