Need help chosing best filing option for my wife and I.

We live in NJ, I work in NYC, wife works in NJ. Is it better to file jointly or separately? NY taxes on NY income only, but does use total income (wife + mine) for rate base calculations. Wondering which filing options would be best...

Another question. NJ taxes all income that is not taxed by NY. So if NY gives a standard deduction of say $7000 on NY income, do we end up paying tax on that $7K in NJ?

Thanks for any help..

RsvKus:

The best way to figure that out is to use tax software and calculate the taxes both ways! That's what I would do if I decided to answer your question, which I will NOT because I am rather busy now.

NJ actually gives you a dollar-for-dollar credit for the NY taxes paid against your NJ taxes, so the NY standard deduction is not an issue on your NJ taxes.