The most common financial change for anyone who gets married is their tax status. You will likely go from filing single to married filing jointly. As long as you are married, you will not be able to file under the status of single again (although you can file as married filing separately).
Change in filing status aside, your taxes could go up after getting married. Logan said if a single person owns a home, they may get to itemize it on their taxes.
This is up to $10,000 for state and local taxes (SALT), plus mortgage interest and donations. When the single homeowner gets married, the SALT limit is still $10,000 and doesn’t increase. As a result, married couples may pay more taxes than if they were single.
What if one, or both, partners have a child? Previously, they could claim head of household (HOH) and the standard deduction and tax rates for HOH are better than for a single person.
“Married people essentially double the single, so rates and standard deduction are the same for two single people compared to a married couple. But if one was HOH, then the combined married couple will have a lower standard deduction and higher rates than if they remained single,” said Logan.
If you still have questions about your taxes once you are married, consider working with a financial advisor for additional guidance and support.
