Quote Originally Posted by Gman View Post
How does having a child in 2013 impact the 2012 tax year?
What GMan means to say is that 2012 Tax Return only pertains to the events that happened in 2012 with very limited exceptions (such as being allowed to make retirement contributions in january that effect the previous year). Your child being born in march will only affect your 2013 tax return.

The vast majority of cases I have seen show that MFJ is a much better outcome than MFS, unless the income is completely skewed towards the Taxpayer or Spouse, and even then MFJ might still turn out to be the better scenario.