What are the pros and cons of filing Married Filing Separately?

You get to keep your tax liability separate from each other.

If there’s a large disparity in you and your spouse’s income, you’ll get to pay tax only on your income

If you’re legally separated, this is generally a good filing status. 

Sometimes, there's a lack of trust between spouses due to business activities or disagreements over tax positions. In those instances, married filing separately could be best. 

Your tax liability is likely to be higher than if you filed jointly.

In most cases, you can’t take the child and dependent care credit. 

If your employer offers child and dependent care assistance, the amount you can exclude from your income is limited to $2,500 instead of $5,000.

In most cases you can’t take the exclusion or credit for adoption expenses.

If you received interest income from qualified savings bonds used for higher education expenses, you can’t exclude income

You can’t take the earned income credit

The alternative minimum tax exemption is half of the amount that would be on a joint tax return. 

The capital loss deduction is limited to $1,500 instead of $3,000

You can’t take the deduction for student loan interest or credit for higher education expenses such as the American opportunity and lifetime learning credits.

The child tax credit and retirement savings contributions credit are reduced at income levels that are half those for a joint return. 

If you lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year: