2021 taxes - stimulus credit and Married Filing Separately

[puppyluv]

Does anyone want to help me think this through. We typically file our taxes as married, filing jointly. For the 3rd round of stimulus funding, we got a small payment of ~$300 between the 2 of us (no kids). I make significantly less than H and would have qualified for the full $1400 payment based on my AGI. If we were to file our taxes as married, filing separately, would I be able to qualify for the remaining stimulus amount? 

What else do I need to consider if we file MFS? We would still itemize and split the mortgage interest deduction and SALT deductions. It seems like a lot of work to file our taxes separately but if it means getting an extra $1100 back it might be worth it. 

[jwright]

If you file MFS you lose the student loan interest deduction, earned income credit, child care tax credit, education credits, and I think some others. You also can't deduct a traditional IRA contribution. If you both itemize then likely your deduction will be less than the standard deduction (in fact you should probably both take the standard). Without taking the stimulus credit into account it almost always works out better to file jointly.

I'm not sure about claiming the recovery rebate credit though; haven't run into that one in practice.

[flygirl]

I think you’ll have to determine if you’d pay more in taxes to file separately as well. Even if you might qualify for $1400 more in stimulus you might lose that to additional taxes. At 50k, you’d pay 1100 more in taxes if you filed separately.