# Is there a marriage tax penalty for us?

Compares a couple’s 2026 federal tax as two unmarried filers with their tax married filing jointly, from each partner’s wages and children, and shows the marriage penalty or bonus.

- Page: https://www.acalculator.org/finance/marriage-tax-calculator
- JSON spec: https://www.acalculator.org/finance/marriage-tax-calculator.json
- Version: f768c8c993de

## Default answer

Example with the default inputs (Your wages $80,000.00, Partner’s wages $40,000.00, Your children under 17 0, Partner’s children under 17 0): Married filing jointly costs $10,043.00 against $11,399.00 as two unmarried filers: a change of −$1,356.00.

## Inputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| w1 | Your wages | Your 2026 W-2 wages (box 1). |
| w2 | Partner’s wages | Your partner’s 2026 W-2 wages (box 1). |
| k1 | Your children under 17 | Qualifying children under 17 who live with you and whom you would claim if unmarried. |
| k2 | Partner’s children under 17 | Qualifying children under 17 who live with your partner and whom they would claim if unmarried. |

## Outputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| change | Change from marrying | Tax married filing jointly − the two unmarried returns: above $0 a marriage penalty, below a bonus. |
| verdict | Result | Marriage penalty, marriage bonus, or no change. |
| married | Tax married filing jointly | Federal tax after credits on one joint return with both wages and all the children. |
| unmarried | Tax as two unmarried filers | Your return plus your partner’s return. |
| tax1 | Your unmarried return | Your federal tax after credits. |
| tax2 | Partner’s unmarried return | Your partner’s federal tax after credits. |
| status1 | Your filing status if unmarried | Single or head of household. |
| status2 | Partner’s filing status if unmarried | Single or head of household. |

## Method

Unmarried: each partner files a 2026 Form 1040 as single, or as head of household with their own children under 17, with their own wages. Married: one Form 1040, married filing jointly, with both wages and all the children. Each return: standard deduction, Tax Table or rate schedule, child tax credit and its refundable part, earned income credit, Additional Medicare Tax. Change = joint tax − (your tax + partner’s tax).

## Assumptions

- Tax year 2026 (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32), not tax advice. Wages are the only income; both take the standard deduction.
- An unmarried partner with a child under 17 living with them files as head of household (they pay more than half the cost of the home) and claims the child; married, all the children go on the joint return.
- With no qualifying child, the earned income credit needs an age of 25 to 64; each partner is taken to meet it. State tax is not included.

## Worked examples

1. w1 = $80,000.00, w2 = $40,000.00 gives tax1 = $8,776.00, tax2 = $2,623.00, unmarried = $11,399.00, married = $10,043.00, change = -$1,356.00, verdict = Marriage bonus. Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (IRB 2025-45): 2026 rate tables (section 4.01), standard deductions (4.14), child tax credit (4.05), earned income credit (4.06), https://www.irs.gov/irb/2025-45_IRB.
2. w1 = $60,000.00, w2 = $60,000.00 gives tax1 = $5,023.00, unmarried = $10,046.00, married = $10,043.00, change = -$3.00. Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (IRB 2025-45): 2026 rate tables (section 4.01), standard deductions (4.14), child tax credit (4.05), earned income credit (4.06), https://www.irs.gov/irb/2025-45_IRB.
3. w1 = $300,000.00, w2 = $300,000.00 gives tax1 = $69,034.25, unmarried = $138,068.50, married = $139,418.50, change = $1,350.00, verdict = Marriage penalty. Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (IRB 2025-45): 2026 rate tables (section 4.01), standard deductions (4.14), child tax credit (4.05), earned income credit (4.06), https://www.irs.gov/irb/2025-45_IRB; IRS, Instructions for Form 8959 (2025) (0.9% over $200,000 single, $250,000 joint), https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8959.
4. w1 = $700,000.00, w2 = $700,000.00 gives tax1 = $213,500.25, married = $438,600.50, change = $11,600.00. Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (IRB 2025-45): 2026 rate tables (section 4.01), standard deductions (4.14), child tax credit (4.05), earned income credit (4.06), https://www.irs.gov/irb/2025-45_IRB (Tables 1 and 3); IRS, Instructions for Form 8959 (2025).
5. w1 = $40,000.00, w2 = $40,000.00, k1 = 2 gives tax1 = -$6,730.00, tax2 = $2,623.00, unmarried = -$4,107.00, married = $843.00, change = $4,950.00, status1 = Head of household. Source: IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (IRB 2025-45): 2026 rate tables (section 4.01), standard deductions (4.14), child tax credit (4.05), earned income credit (4.06), https://www.irs.gov/irb/2025-45_IRB (head of household brackets and $24,150 deduction; $2,200 child tax credit, $1,700 refundable; earned income credit table amounts).

## FAQ

### What is the marriage penalty?

A marriage penalty is extra federal tax a couple pays on a joint return compared with what the two would pay as unmarried filers; a marriage bonus is tax saved. With $80,000 and $40,000 of wages and no children, the joint return costs $10,043 against $11,399 for two single returns, a $1,356 bonus.

### Who gets a marriage bonus?

Mostly couples with very different incomes. The joint brackets and standard deduction are twice the single ones up to the 35% rate, so the lower earner’s unused low brackets cover part of the higher earner’s income.

### Who gets a marriage penalty?

Two high earners, because the joint 37% bracket starts at $768,700 rather than twice the single $640,600, and the Additional Medicare Tax starts at $250,000 of joint wages rather than $200,000 each. Low-income parents can also lose part of the earned income credit and the head of household status when they marry.

### Does it matter when in the year we marry?

Your filing status depends on whether you are married on December 31. Marrying on that day makes you married for the whole year’s return, and marrying on January 1 leaves you unmarried for the year before.

### Can we avoid a penalty by filing separately?

Rarely. Married filing separately uses brackets like the single ones but loses the earned income credit and several other credits and deductions. Compare the two statuses with the married filing jointly vs separately calculator.

### Why does the earned income credit change so much?

The credit phases out with the couple’s combined income, and the joint phase-out starts only $7,270 higher than for a single filer. A single parent earning $40,000 with two children gets a $3,918 credit; married to someone also earning $40,000, the couple’s $80,000 is past the credit’s end at $65,899.

## Sources

- IRS, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (Internal Revenue Bulletin 2025-45), section 4.01 Tables 1 to 3 (2026 rates for married filing jointly, heads of households, unmarried individuals), section 4.05 (child tax credit, $1,700 refundable), section 4.06 (earned income credit amounts), section 4.14 (standard deduction $32,200, $24,150, $16,100). https://www.irs.gov/irb/2025-45_IRB (retrieved 2026-10-18)
- IRS, Publication 501 (2025), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information: marital status is determined on December 31; head of household requirements. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501 (retrieved 2026-10-18)
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8959 (2025), Additional Medicare Tax: 0.9% of Medicare wages over $250,000 married filing jointly and $200,000 single, head of household or qualifying surviving spouse; the thresholds are not indexed for inflation. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8959 (retrieved 2026-10-18)
- IRS, 2025 Tax Table (Instructions for Form 1040): rows of $0 to $5, $5 to $15 and $15 to $25, then $25 rows to $3,000 and $50 rows from $3,000 to $100,000 (single, $1,000 to $1,025 shows $101); $100,000 or over uses the Tax Computation Worksheet. The 2026 table is not out yet. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040tt (retrieved 2026-10-18)
- IRS, Instructions for Schedule 8812 (2025): Part II-B for three or more qualifying children, line 21 (social security and Medicare taxes withheld, Form W-2 boxes 4 and 6); Credit Limit Worksheet B lines 5 to 13 (the larger of 15% of earned income over $2,500 and those taxes less the earned income credit, Form 1040 line 27a; $1,700 a child). https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040s8 (retrieved 2026-10-18)