It seems that you can find a study about just about anything these days. I was readying about a study that was done at the University of Michigan, using data from the U.S. Treasury Department to determine if it matters whose name is listed first on a tax return.
The study - titled "Who's on (THE 1040) First? Determinants and Consequences of Spouses' Name Order on Joint Returns" - suggests the answer could be yes — that the tax return name order may hold some clues about social dynamics and beliefs.
The study also revealed that the number of joint federal income tax returns filed with the man’s name listed first on Form 1040 has declined by more than 9% over the last two decades.
Does Any of This Really Matter?
The person listed first on your joint federal income tax return is usually called the “primary taxpayer.” But it’s important to note that your tax liability is absolutely the same whether you list your name or your partner's name first on your federal income tax return when you are married and filing jointly.
Nor does the order of spouse names on your joint tax return doesn’t mean one spouse has more or less income or will have to pay more or less tax than the other.
When you file your taxes jointly, both spouses must sign and date the return, so the IRS says you and your spouse are generally both responsible for any tax, interest, and penalties due on the joint return. So, is this study even relevant?
Based on a sampling of data from IRS records containing information from individual income tax returns filed from 1996 to 2020, the study authors say they are relevant for two main reasons.
- Data shows that the decision of married couples filing jointly to list the man's name first on the tax return isn’t a random one, and
- Listing the man’s name first on the return can reflect social norms, attitudes, and mindsets.
The researchers make clear that the Treasury Department has not “revealed the gender distribution of the name order on joint income tax returns.” Despite this, the study found that:
- From the 2020 tax year, the man’s name was listed first on jointly filed returns 88.1% of the time. In 1996, that number was 97.3% for the man’s name being listed first.
- Listing the man’s name first on a tax return correlated with several varied factors, including being highly religious (61% chance), politically conservative (65% chance), Christian (70% chance), and against abortion (73% chance). According to the researchers, those findings were based on state data cross-referenced with filers' addresses.
- Joint tax returns with the man’s name listed first reportedly correlated with a greater chance toward financial risk. (Examples provided in the research include holding stocks over bonds, engaging in tax evasion, etc., which researchers say they found from matching returns with random IRS audits.)
The researchers note that opinions regarding who should be listed first on a tax return could be changing. That's partly because younger filers were generally more likely to list the woman’s name first on their jointly filed federal income tax returns. In fact, about 25% of new joint filers in 2020 listed the woman’s name first on the return.
How does the IRS view this?
As it turns out, however, most people maintain the same order of their spouse's name on their federal income tax returns, with nearly 99% of filers choosing the same name order for their federal tax returns in consecutive years.
The researchers point out that the Instructions for Form 1040 have suggested that the first person listed be the one who completed the tax return. Over the past 20 years, this may have historically resulted in the man’s name being listed first in a joint filing scenario — for any number of reasons.
Also, the IRS encourages taxpayers to enter their names and Social Security numbers in the same order as on their return from the previous tax year. They have suggested that changing the order from one year to the next can potentially cause processing delays.
For some taxpayers, it’s also possible that the order of spouses' names on tax returns persists because of Form 1040 instructions and longstanding fears of IRS audits and tax noncompliance.