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Tax Changes When You Get Married

Marriage changes everything on your return. Filing status, withholding, and brackets all shift.

Katie Gorles
Written by
Katie Gorles
Updated April 22, 2026

MFJ vs MFS

Married Filing Jointly usually saves more tax. MFS makes sense specifically when one spouse has high medical expenses, one spouse is on an income-based student loan plan, or there's a divorce in progress.

W-4 updates for both spouses

File new W-4s with both employers. The default W-4 assumes a single filer, which overwithholds most new couples and creates a refund. The IRS tax withholding estimator helps set the right amount.

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Common questions

What's the marriage penalty?
When two high earners combine, their joint income pushes into higher brackets than their separate returns did. It's a real phenomenon at specific income combinations.

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