Why does my return shrink significantly after I add my spouse's information?

[bubblo55-]

I'm filing a joint return with my common-law partner who has the higher income. I put my information in first and it calculated that I'd have a substantial return. Then I put his info in and my return has shrunk to almost nothing while his return is quite substantial. Why is his return so much larger than mine when mine was large without his info?

[TonyC11 · Accepted solution]

You are preparing returns jointly, but each person submits individual returns to CRA.
What you see is very common. When you prepare your input, and leave your spouse net income blank, Turbotax sees this as zero income and awards you a thumping $11138 in spousal credit, worth about $1700 or so tax rebate.

Then when you enter the actual spousal Income, Turbotax reduces or removes this credit.

Do not submit either return to CRA until you have entered ALL Incone and credits for both people.