There has been some discusion today about married filing jointly versus married separate. I am confused by some  of the answers especially those that say there are some who would benefit by filing separately. I have been in this buisiness 53 years and I have never seen a case where separate returns were beneficial. I have tries. Every time I have tried it just does not work. One party might make out like a trooper but the other one gets hosed so bad it wipes out the gain the other partner got and then some.