How married filing separately status could affect Trump tax breaks

Every year, married couples decide whether to file taxes together or separately. This election is President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill”

Generally, tax law supports “marital joint filing” status, which combines a couple’s income, credits, and deductions into a single return. “Marital filing separately” creates two returns with each spouse allocating earnings and tax deductions.

“We’ve seen a handful of cases where filing for marriage makes sense separately,” said financial planner Gregory Guenther, owner of Grantvest Financial Group in Matawan, N.J. “But this is often a very specific, numbers-based decision rather than a broad strategy.”

During the 2023 tax year, 55.5 million According to the latest IRS data, couples chose to file jointly for marriage, compared to about 4.1 million who filed separately.

Typically, joint filers pay less income tax due to wider tax brackets; This means couples can earn more before reaching the next tier. There is also a higher standard deduction for 2025 for married couples filing jointly, at $31,500 compared to $15,750 for those filing separately.

Filing separately can bring “unintended consequences,” according to Lawrence Pon, a certified financial planner with consulting firm Pon & Associates in Redwood City, California.

For example, couples lose the right to benefit from these benefits. One-time deduction for Roth individual retirement account contributions or traditional IRA deposits modified adjusted gross income It reaches $10,000.

You also may not qualify for certain tax breaks, including Trump’s new deductions for tip income, overtime earnings or senior citizens, which are popular claims of many filers this season.

Filing separately may also prevent or reduce available tax deductions. student loan interest deduction, education loanand the child and dependent care tax credit, among others.

While there are drawbacks to filing separately, this choice may work for some taxpayers, depending on their situation, experts said.

Some high-income couples in high-tax states can increase the value of itemized deductions by filing separately, according to Guenther.

This may include: The federal deduction limit for state and local taxes, known as SALT, was increased by Trump’s legislation to $40,000 for 2025, or $20,000 for separate filers.

Another example is if one of the spouses has these rights. medical expense deductionAnother itemized tax deduction is available only when these costs exceed 7.5% of the year’s adjusted gross income.

But experts say that when filing separately, both spouses must state or use the standard deduction separately, which may not benefit either partner.

“It’s rarely a dunk,” Günther said.

Of course, advisors need to run tax estimates in both directions (jointly and separately) to see which option offers a better outcome. This may vary from year to year.

In general, “filing for marriage separately is a tactical move for a given year rather than a long-term strategy,” Günther said.

“It only makes sense when the benefit is clear and measurable,” he said.