Married Filing Separate vs. Filing Jointly

I have spent the entire Saturday analyzing my tax returns, both Federal and State, first I did a Joint return with the Federal we came out even that is we do not owe the tax man and he owes us very little, not even enough for a very good bottle of wine. However with the sate that was different we owe almost five hundred dollars, so I decided to evaluate the option of Married Filing Separate, at the back of my mind I know that in the Federal Tax return this is the most expensive option, but there could be savings on the State return.

I allocated all the income between my wife and I, that is whatever income is attached to her social security number belongs to her, then I analyzed the Schedule A deductions, this gets a little tricky, like the mortgage interest expense and Real Estate Taxes is attached to my social security number therefore I had to split those between us. Expenses such as medical, dental, eye glasses we have our separate bills for the year and as faith would have it all the medications are mine. I had to pay special attention to the medical expenses because we are residents of Ohio and there is a credit for medical expenses on Ohio Tax Line 47. Please note there are many good Tax Return software on the market which could have done this automatically, if I had use one like TurboTax it would have taken me a lot less time, but it snowed today and I am confined to the basement of our home.

After refiguring both federal and State, the result shows it would be a very bad idea to file Married Separate for the Federal return, however on the State return was completely different, we both ended up with small refunds instead of a liability of almost five hundred. On our combine return filing joint we had an effective Tax Rate of almost 5% while on the Married Filing Separate return my effective tax rate is 4.5% and hers 3.5% although collectively we have a total higher rate on the Separate returns we did not owe any State Tax as in the Joint Return which has a lower rate.

I was very amazed and I checked it several times, then I logged on to the State of Ohio Tax Web page and entered the information for two separate returns and Walla I was right all that work pays off sometimes it is better to File Married Filing Separate for the State return. Although I am not a Tax Expert I found the process was not that difficult our return was a simple clear cut return with just my wife and I, can I claim the dog?, OH the dog belongs to my youngest child Dang remember a pet is not a dependent.

Handling Taxes Can Be Rough – Hire a Tax Consultant Instead

Managing your own business can be rough, especially if you’re a first time business owner. One aspect of handling a business that gives many people trouble is taxes. Learning the tax code can be very complicated and the law changes every year. If you want to stay on top, you need a professional that is up to date and can use the tax code to your advantage. An excellent tax consultant can help save you money, but sometimes trying to find one can be a hassle. If you want to stand any chance of recruiting a good consultant, don’t wait until tax season to do so. If possible, you want to book their services several months in advance. Even if you don’t think that you need a consultant now, why not give their services a try and see what they can do for you?

Handling taxes and legalese can be very complicated. If you’re not willing to learn the code yourself, hiring a consultant is the next best thing. As long as you find a trusted one, they can help save you unimaginable amounts of money. Of course, there is still the possibility of you hiring a green consultant, but if they are willing to learn, even someone new to the world of taxes can be a huge help. A fresh pair of eyes is always a good thing when it comes to managing a business. Make sure that before you hire someone, to check their background and former experience. Look over several candidates and pick the consultant whose speciality matches your business properly. Each consultant works in a specialized area, so you want to be sure that they can actually help you. The rules for tax applies different to single people, businesses, or contractors so choose the right person for the job.

It may be a hassle to hire a consultant the first time, but once you do, you often stay with the same person forever, except for retirement or death. Once you get through the upfront time consuming process of hiring, and they get the chance to show their stuff, they’ll be able to save you tons of time, money, and hassle. Many people with businesses that fail to have tax consultants sometimes run into trouble, so you may as well be prepared beforehand. You have no idea how much money you are leaving on the table until you hire the services of a good tax consultant.