@BobKamman  "..Can someone tell me why IRS is taking the long way around the barn for this?

What a dumb question; it's the IRS 🤣 !!!   Why would they *ever* take the short-cut around/thru the barn ?

And I just love the "split" the UIC due to community property idea.  Nothing I've seen in ARPA  addresses  it; the fact that the $ 150,000 cliff applies across the board to all filing statuses (statusi ?) means "they" weren't considering all the implications.  Surprise, surprise.... what's that line about haste making waste?

I have several I've been holding that I'll now go back & evaluate MFS.  Oh, joy.