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In some situations thousands of tax dollars can be saved by using the married filing separate filing status. However, doing so can trigger a larger income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA) to your Medicare premium.
For example, the monthly adjustment for a single taxpayer with modified adjusted gross income of $109,000 is $81.20 per month. A married taxpayer filing separately with the same income will have a monthly adjustment of $446.30. In that situation it will most likely be better to file a joint tax return and pay the extra income tax.
Be sure to consider IRMAA when choosing your filing status. Here is the IRS link for the surcharges.
https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-44.pdf
IRMAA is especially applicable for those filing single because it cuts the threshold in half. My wife and I did not have to worry about IRMAA unless we did Roth conversions. She passed away this year. In future years I will trigger IRMAA with my normal income.
I’m sorry for your loss.
Why oh why is it so complicated?
The answer is politicians creating loopholes for their pet constituents, primarily rich political donors, and work for accountants and financial advisers.