When it comes to taxes, getting married changes more than your filing status. Combining incomes, homes and financial accounts can affect tax liability in ways that often surprise newlyweds. Other financial issues will also be impacted by marriage. Here's a look at some of the most important things to consider before you tie the knot, as well as some to-dos to complete soon after.
Your marital status at year end determines your tax filing options for the entire year. If you're married on or before December 31, you'll have two federal income tax filing choices for 2026: filing jointly with your spouse or filing separately. Keep in mind that filing separately isn't the same thing as filing as a single person (more on that later).
There are two reasons most married couples file jointly:
However, there are a few situations when filing separately may save tax dollars. For example, if one spouse has high medical expenses and a lower income, filing separately may allow that spouse to exceed the 7.5% of adjusted gross income floor applicable to the medical expense itemized deduction. Therefore, he or she could deduct some medical expenses that wouldn't be deductible if the couple filed jointly.
And there's one particular downside to filing jointly worth noting: For years that you file joint federal income tax returns, you're generally "jointly and severally liable" for any underpayments, interest and penalties caused by your spouse's deliberate misreporting or unintentional errors and omissions.
Joint-and-several liability means the IRS can come after you for the entire bill if collecting from your spouse proves to be difficult or impossible. Even if you and your spouse subsequently divorce, the IRS can attempt to collect tax debt from you for any year you filed a joint return.
The good news is you might be able to claim "innocent spouse relief" under the joint-and-several liability rule if you meet certain requirements. But if you file separately, you won't have to worry about obtaining such relief because you won't be liable for your spouse's deliberate misreporting or unintentional errors on his or her separate return.
Bottom line: If you have any doubts about your new spouse's attention to financial details or tax-filing ethics, filing separately may be the safer option.
You've probably heard about the federal income tax "penalty" that happens when a married couple owes more federal income tax than they would if they'd remained single. These days, the penalty primarily applies to taxpayers in the top two federal income tax brackets. The reason? The top two tax rate brackets for joint filers aren't twice as wide as the top two tax rate brackets for singles. In addition, the top two separate filer brackets aren't equal to the top two single brackets — so filing separately doesn't protect against the marriage penalty.
A marriage penalty also applies to certain other tax breaks, such as the state and local tax (SALT) itemized deduction. For 2026, the SALT deduction limit is $40,400 for joint filers and singles, but it's only $20,200 for separate filers. When modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) exceeds the applicable threshold, the cap is reduced by 30% of the amount by which MAGI exceeds the threshold — but not below $10,000, or half that for separate filers.
On the other hand, some married couples collect a federal income tax "bonus" from being married. If one spouse earns all or most of the income, it's likely that filing jointly will reduce the couple's combined tax bill. For a high-income couple, the marriage bonus can amount to several thousand dollars a year.
When a couple gets married, they often need to combine two households. If both you and your fiancé own homes that have appreciated substantially in value, and you sell one or both homes, you may owe capital gains tax.
There's a $250,000 gain exclusion for single taxpayers who sell real property that was their principal residence for at least two years during the five-year period ending on the sale date. The gain exclusion increases to $500,000 for married taxpayers who file jointly.
Suppose both you and your fiancé are homeowners. You could sell your homes before or after you get married. Assuming you've each lived in your respective residences for two of the last five years, you could both potentially claim the $250,000 gain exclusion. That's a combined federal-income-tax-free profit of up to $500,000.
Conversely, let's say you sell your place and move into your spouse's home. After you've both used that home as your principal residence for at least two years, you could sell it and claim the larger $500,000 joint-filer gain exclusion.
In other words, you could potentially exclude up to $250,000 of gain on the sale of your home. Then you could later claim a $500,000 gain exclusion on the sale of the property your spouse originally owned. With a little patience and some smart tax planning, you could potentially exclude a combined total gain of $750,000 on your home sales.
Important: Taxpayers generally aren't allowed to use the home sale gain exclusion more than once within a two-year period.
Taxes are an important consideration when you get married. But there are other financial issues and administrative tasks to consider. Here are some to-dos:
Coordinate workplace benefits. First, review life insurance and retirement plan beneficiaries, as well as disability coverage. Second, are you and your spouse both covered by health insurance? Getting married counts as a qualifying event that allows you to make changes to your employee benefits outside of open enrollment. If you both work and one spouse has better health insurance than the other, you may want to add the spouse to the more generous plan. Similarly, if one spouse doesn't have coverage, consider adding him or her to the other spouse's plan.
Review bank and financial accounts. Discuss whether you'll continue to have separate checking accounts and credit cards — or whether joint accounts make more sense. If you open a new account, you'll need to update any automatic bill payments and direct deposits to reflect the new account number.
Consider changing titles on key assets. If one spouse already owns a home, for example, you might want to refinance it or change the title to include both spouses. But before you do, talk it over with your professional advisors. There are legal implications for who owns assets, including private business interests, real estate and vehicles.
Update insurance. You may decide to change your life insurance beneficiaries after marriage. Also, ask your insurance agent about possible discounts for married couples who combine auto policies with renter's or homeowner's policies, as well as scheduled property riders that can be added to your renter's or homeowner's insurance policy for engagement and wedding rings.
Review deeds, wills and power of attorney documents. An attorney or estate planning advisor can discuss the full array of estate planning tools, such as various trusts, that might be relevant now that you're married.
Update key entities and items for name changes, if applicable. If getting married involves changing your name, you should inform key entities such as your employer, the Social Security Administration and any utility providers that you regularly pay (such as phone, electricity, gas, water and waste management companies). You should also update key documents such as your:
This list may seem long, but taking care of these details now can help prevent administrative headaches and financial problems later.
Marriage affects far more than your tax return. Reviewing financial accounts, insurance coverage, estate plans and tax strategies before or soon after the wedding can help you avoid unpleasant surprises later. Your tax advisor and other financial professionals can help you address issues that may affect your finances as a married couple.
If you're an employee, you should check the amount of taxes being withheld from your paycheck any time there's a change in your personal circumstances. Marriage is one such situation.
Along with potentially changing your income level and tax bracket, getting married may affect whether you decide to itemize deductions or take the standard deduction for 2026. Blending families also might qualify you for child-related tax breaks that you weren't previously eligible for. So, it's important to perform a comprehensive review of your combined tax situation well before year end to project your combined tax liability for the year.
If you withhold too much, you're effectively giving the federal government an interest-free loan to use your money until it's refunded after you file your 2026 return sometime next year. Conversely, if you withhold too little, you'll face a larger tax bill — and possibly an underpayment penalty — when you file your return. To adjust your withholding, you'll need to request a new W-4 form from your employer, fill it out and submit it.
If you're self-employed or you report investment income or retirement account withdrawals, you should check whether your quarterly estimated payments will be enough to cover your tax liability for 2026. The due dates for the quarterly estimated payments for a tax year are:
These dates are adjusted to the next business day for weekends and holidays. You might need to adjust your quarterly estimated payments for the rest of the year based on your new marital status.
The IRS offers an online calculator for determining the "right" amount of withholding and estimated payments. But it's no substitute for meeting with an experienced tax professional — especially when you're facing a new tax situation this year because you got married.
Get in touch today and find out how we can help you meet your objectives.
