Taxes When You Get Married

Marriage is one of the biggest tax events in most people's lives, and understanding what changes — and when — can save you from surprises at tax time. Your marital status for the entire year is determined by your status on December 31, so if you get married on December 31, you're considered married for the full year for federal tax purposes.

The most immediate decision is your filing status. Most married couples file jointly, which combines your incomes onto one return and gives you access to higher standard deductions ($29,200 for joint filers in 2024 versus $14,600 for singles) and more favorable tax brackets. Married filing separately can make sense in specific situations — if one spouse has significant medical expenses or student loan income-driven repayment, or if you want to keep your finances separate for legal reasons — but it generally results in a higher combined tax bill and restricts access to many credits and deductions.

Some couples experience a "marriage penalty" — where their combined income pushes them into a higher bracket than they would have faced filing separately — while others enjoy a "marriage bonus" if there's a large income disparity between the two spouses. To prevent under-withholding, both spouses should update their W-4s with their employers after getting married, since the default withholding tables may no longer apply accurately once you're filing jointly.

If both spouses work and contribute to retirement accounts, marriage opens up additional planning opportunities. A working spouse can make contributions to a spousal IRA on behalf of a non-working spouse, which can significantly boost the couple's combined retirement savings. It's also worth reviewing whether your combined income now phases out deductions or credits — such as the student loan interest deduction or Roth IRA contribution eligibility — that were available to you individually as single filers.

If one spouse changes their name, make sure your Social Security Administration records are updated before you file your first joint return — name mismatches between your tax return and SSA records can delay your refund. You should also review beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and bank accounts, though those are more estate planning matters than tax matters. The year you marry is a good time to sit down with a tax professional to model out your new joint tax situation and make sure your withholding, estimated payments, and retirement contributions are all optimized for two people.