We live in PA.
As many know, I'm engaged and getting married next fall but fiance and I are now looking at getting legally married sooner (as in the next couple of weeks) so that I can go on his insurance (his company requires that hetero couples be married to get on the policy). I am SERIOUSLY confused about how to figure out what the differences in taxes will be married vs single. I did find a site stating that even if we get married on the last day of the year, the govt will consider us married for the whole year, so the answers will determine whether we make it legal before or after 1/1.
I know it will be SIMPLER to wait until after the new year and just file single this year (I know what to expect for that at least) and maybe it won't make a big difference either way, but I really don't want to end up screwing myself if filing jointly will be a big advantage for us at a time when money is really tight, since I was out of work for 2 months and we are trying to plan and pay for a wedding.
Can anyone please point me in the right direction, give a few examples of situations where a joint married return would give a much bigger refund then 2 single returns maybe? Or a couple of good sites to research? I don't even know where to start googling.
As many know, I'm engaged and getting married next fall but fiance and I are now looking at getting legally married sooner (as in the next couple of weeks) so that I can go on his insurance (his company requires that hetero couples be married to get on the policy). I am SERIOUSLY confused about how to figure out what the differences in taxes will be married vs single. I did find a site stating that even if we get married on the last day of the year, the govt will consider us married for the whole year, so the answers will determine whether we make it legal before or after 1/1.
I know it will be SIMPLER to wait until after the new year and just file single this year (I know what to expect for that at least) and maybe it won't make a big difference either way, but I really don't want to end up screwing myself if filing jointly will be a big advantage for us at a time when money is really tight, since I was out of work for 2 months and we are trying to plan and pay for a wedding.
Can anyone please point me in the right direction, give a few examples of situations where a joint married return would give a much bigger refund then 2 single returns maybe? Or a couple of good sites to research? I don't even know where to start googling.