MFJ/MFS Wksht Federal

[bernie10]

MFJ/MFS Wksht states savings fileing MFS but columns have same totals.  Can I split and see results and then combine?

[sjrcpa · Accepted solution]

In Lacerte you can split the return which will generate 2 MFS files. You can't then recombine them but your original MFJ file is still there.

[itonewbie]

Sorry I may not fully understand your question.  But if you did not mark any of the income or expenses as T or J, they'd be presumed to be jointly held and split by half on the worksheet.  Wages, for example, would be one of the exceptions where it's linked to either the taxpayer or the spouse and would not be split except for community property states.

If you believe the 50/50 split is not correct, you can go back to the input screens to code these correctly for T/S/J.

The worksheet already shows you the comparisons for separate vs joint filing not only in terms of income and deductions as well as credits but the bottom line for tax liabilities.  It's not perfect as there are some quirks that Lacerte couldn't work through for MFS (e.g. DBC benefits exclusion) but it should be pretty close.  You shouldn't have to split the numbers and prepare separate returns to compare - that's the whole point of this worksheet.

[Strongsilence-CPA]

@itonewbie 

I want to calculate taxes under MFS and MFJ.  And I need to allocate pension distributions 50/50 but the Comparison worksheet allocates them as designated by the input. IS there an override or input I need to make?

Each spouse participant has lived in CA while being married and while participating in his/her respective pension.  This means it should be 50/50 allocation.

[itonewbie]

@Strongsilence-CPA Suggest you open a new thread for your own question.  Will then take it from there.