<prompt> Human: My husband and I got married this year. I, as a 1st time independent contractor earned just about 11k with expenses taken out, etc and my husband earned about 40k on his w2. I did not contribute to taxes quarterly like I probably should have, but money was tight with student loan payments, and we had to make it work. Would we be better off filing seperately since it looks like I will owe money? What effect will this have on his taxes if we file jointly?  <response>: Its almost always better to file jointly. Run the numbers both way to figure out which is better for your situation. 