<prompt> Human: Are we both responsible jointly for the whole debt? Is it the spouse who actually filled out the forms? The spouse who earned more income? Is the debt divided up between us somehow?And just on the off chance... what if we still cant pay it off, even with a payment plan? Who goes to prison?Asking because I want to file a joint tax return because Ive heard it will save us money though I dont really understand how, since the federal brackets are just twice as high, so it would kind of be a wash versus two separate incomes on two separate brackets, I think - and in Ohio, where I live, I read that the brackets are identical, meaning that filing jointly incurs a penalty; I assume you cant legally file your Ohio taxes separately if youre married, then, or else you could cheat?, but Im self-employed, so they dont take taxes out of my check and thus I could be in a lot of debt, which my wife is hesitant to take responsibility for... I was thinking maybe we could fill out the papers for a joint return, and if we owe too much, fill them out separately? Can you do that using TurboTax without paying again when you fill them out again, or would we have to file on paper? I think you might be able to, but it seems rather odd if you could just fill everything out online then write down all the numbers on a paper return without paying their fees!  <response>: When married you have 2 filing options. Married filing Jointly or separately.Jointly is almost always better than separately. If you and your wife make different amounts each year, you could save compared to if you werent married and filed single. 