Married filing jointly w/ IU spouse

[MarineLCpl]

Hello everyone, 

I have a question regarding taxes. If this isn’t the correct place for this question, I have no issue with a mod moving the topic to the appropriate place. 
 

I’m seeking information on how to go about handling tax returns. My girlfriend and I have talked about marriage. She’s a registered nurse so that’s her income source. I’m a disabled vet, currently rated at 80% but receiving 100% IU. 
 

If we do get married and file jointly, would there be any negative consequences for either of us if she’s the only one with reported income? Meaning will this status affect her returns in a negative way versus if we were to file separately? 
 

I’m just concerned about her having to pay more or possibly receiving less because she’s the only one with earned income. 
 

I hope everyone is well. I’m just looking to be informed before going through with the marriage and can’t find definitive answers to these questions. 
 

God bless, 

MarineLCpl

[brokensoldier244th]

Well, She/you would probably end up paying less because of reduced AGI and the allowances given to married vs. single. Ive been P and T and 100% for a few years now and we've always filed jointly, with just her income, because we still get the married allowances even if I wasn't making any income. 

CAS

[XIbodybag]

18 minutes ago, MarineLCpl said:

Hello everyone, 

I have a question regarding taxes. If this isn’t the correct place for this question, I have no issue with a mod moving the topic to the appropriate place. 
 

I’m seeking information on how to go about handling tax returns. My girlfriend and I have talked about marriage. She’s a registered nurse so that’s her income source. I’m a disabled vet, currently rated at 80% but receiving 100% IU. 
 

If we do get married and file jointly, would there be any negative consequences for either of us if she’s the only one with reported income? Meaning will this status affect her returns in a negative way versus if we were to file separately? 
 

I’m just concerned about her having to pay more or possibly receiving less because she’s the only one with earned income. 
 

I hope everyone is well. I’m just looking to be informed before going through with the marriage and can’t find definitive answers to these questions. 
 

God bless, 

MarineLCpl

Nope wont affect her negatively at all.  In fact it could put you guys at a lower tax bracket and affect her positively if anything.

[MarineLCpl]

38 minutes ago, brokensoldier244th said:

Well, She/you would probably end up paying less because of reduced AGI and the allowances given to married vs. single. Ive been P and T and 100% for a few years now and we've always filed jointly, with just her income, because we still get the married allowances even if I wasn't making any income. 

CAS

This is kinda what I’m gathering. If we do get married, she would be the one reporting her income, as I have no “taxable” income to report. Of course, if I were to do some marginal type employment, I would report that income alongside hers, but I don’t ever foresee the income stemming from that being over the poverty level for a single person. 
 

I would love to try my hardest and do marginal work if able, but I’ve been swayed for years(even by people on this forum) that it’s not worth the risk because you’re basically giving the VA an excuse to “reevaluate” you, potentially damaging or removing your IU rating all together. Now I have no doubt that if I were to have to defend this marginal work(would likely be self-employment type services based on my degree), I could explain how the work was done on my own terms, at my leisure, but the fear of opening that can of worms is off putting for me, so I don’t risk it. I would really like to though, if to be able to contribute to an IRA or some type of retirement fund, as you can’t contribute to a Roth without “earned income.” 
 

I’m very lost to say the least. I’m just thinking in terms of security for my family. The lack of information for special circumstances like this is very disheartening. Disabled Veterans afraid to do any work at all to earn extra income. I’m grateful for my IU rating, but the income from that isn’t anything to really write home about. Deciding to try and work and maybe earn 10k a year, but risking 36k in VA disability to do it... 

Edited June 29, 2020 by MarineLCpl

[broncovet]

Well, to make sure, consult YOUR tax professional.  I have one, she does my taxes for about 100 per year.  Great deal.  While I wont go into details, my tax returns are complex.  

I read recently that the Bible contains about 783,137 words.  https://wordcounter.net/blog/2016/02/21/101241_how-many-pages-are-there-in-the-bible.html#:~:text=These are made up of,and similar fantasy novel epics.

 

However, I understand there are over 11,000,000 words to Obama Care, and this is not near all the words for the tax code.  If we have difficulty understanding the Bible, how would we ever understand tax code??? 

[MarineLCpl]

2 hours ago, broncovet said:

Well, to make sure, consult YOUR tax professional.  I have one, she does my taxes for about 100 per year.  Great deal.  While I wont go into details, my tax returns are complex.  

I read recently that the Bible contains about 783,137 words.  https://wordcounter.net/blog/2016/02/21/101241_how-many-pages-are-there-in-the-bible.html#:~:text=These are made up of,and similar fantasy novel epics.

 

However, I understand there are over 11,000,000 words to Obama Care, and this is not near all the words for the tax code.  If we have difficulty understanding the Bible, how would we ever understand tax code??? 

Based on the research I’ve done thus far, it appears that it could possibly lower her tax bracket if we filed jointly. Based on the bracket stats, her income is currently in the 22% range as “Single.” Married filing jointly puts her income in the 12% range, granted I had no income to report. But doing the math, even if I picked up 10k from marginal employment(would probably never happen, but if), we’d still fall a few thousand short from jumping back into the 22% range. I guess another primary concern is how the VA would look at spousal income in regards to my benefits. 

[brokensoldier244th]

Not at all. They aren’t related at all. Spousal income is theirs not yours.