ogc163
Superstar
Marriage makes financial sense. If you have a significant other who believes that getting married is more of a financial liability than a benefit, that mindset is more common than you'd think. Many people, largely confused by the long-held belief that married couples pay more in taxes than those who are single—the marriage penalty—have held to that line of thinking as a reason to avoid tying the knot.
Not only is this largely untrue for many couples, but there are several reasons why marriage makes financial sense. First, let’s tackle taxes.
Key Takeaways
Yes, America's progressive tax system can cut both ways for couples. Despite various attempts at reform, a marriage penalty still exists for some couples who earn about the same and are pushed into a higher tax bracket when their family income more or less doubles at marriage. This holds true for both high- and low-income couples.
By contrast, couples in which one partner earns all the income—or significantly more than the other—sometimes benefit from a marriage bonus because the higher earner's bracket drops after marriage and they end up paying less in taxes than if they'd filed separately as singles. In all, the marriage bonuses can amount to 21% of a couple’s income, while marriage penalties can amount to as much as 12%, according to the Tax Tax Foundation. Eliminating any and all marriage penalties and bonuses would require a significant rewrite of the tax code that would have far-reaching effects. Instead, lawmakers rely on marriage penalty workarounds.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The advent of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which was signed by President Donald Trump on Dec. 22, 2017, led to several changes to the tax code that were intended to lower corporate, individual, and estate taxes. There has already been much discussion about how the tax code change makes only small reductions to income tax rates for most individual tax brackets while awarding significant tax reductions to corporations. Also, the cuts that benefit individuals will phase out in 2025 but will remain for corporations and other entities. That debate aside, there is much new information for married couples to consider.
Brackets, Phaseouts Aligned
First of all, the new tax brackets for married couples filing a joint return are now double the single bracket rate at the same income, except for those in the 35% and 37% brackets. This alignment limits a primary cause of the previous marriage penalty, as more married couples filing jointly find that their combined incomes now place them in a lower bracket.
Similarly, the child tax credit phaseout has been aligned beginning at $400,000 for couples, which is double the $200,000 phaseout for singles. Previously, the phaseout was $75,000 for singles and $110,000 for couples, so this change eliminated another potential marriage penalty for couples with kids.
AMT Exemption and Phaseout Upped
The alternative minimum tax (AMT) is a tax regime that runs parallel to normal tax rules and applies to higher-income individuals and couples. Under the AMT, when taxes are calculated, the higher of the two figures is what is owed by the taxpayer, much to the ire of those lucky enough to trigger it. The AMT remains under the TCJA, but the new rule has increased both the AMT exemption and the income level at which the AMT phases out. The result is that the AMT will hit fewer high-income taxpayers.
Earned Income Tax Credit Penalties and Bonuses
The marriage penalty can be especially large for taxpayers who qualify for the earned-income tax credit (EIC) when one spouse’s income disqualifies the couple. That said, marriage can boost the EIC if a nonworking parent files jointly with a worker with relatively low earnings.
A couple with $40,000 in combined income (split 50/50), for example, had a tax penalty of more than $2,439 in 2018, according to the Tax Policy Center. If this couple were not married, one parent could file as head of household with two children and the other parent would file as single. Under that structure they would have combined standard deductions of $30,000, which is $6,000 more than the new, aligned $24,000 standard deduction for that income level when filing jointly as a married couple.
When filing separate returns, the head of the household could claim an EITC of $5,434 and a child tax credit of $2,825 (the other parent qualifies for neither credit). This means that the head of the household is due a refund of $8,059, while the other parent owes $800 for a total refund of $7,259. Had this couple filed jointly, they would have seen a far smaller EITC of $2,420 but a larger child tax credit of $4,000. In all, their refund would be $4,820, which is $2,439 less than if they had been unmarried and had filed separately.
Want to see for yourself? Get your financial documents out and use this tool to calculate whether a marriage would (or does) bring a penalty or bonus for you and your significant other.
Tax Shelter?
Is the opportunity to utilize someone's unused deductions a reason to marry them? Probably not. But if the owner of a successful business marries someone who is not taking advantage of their tax deductions, they may be able to reduce their tax burden via a write-off. This may also apply to steep medical expenses. Though this thinking may not be romantic, it is a solid tax-planning strategy.
IRA Contributions
The income ceiling for traditional and Roth IRA contributions is far higher for married couples in which one spouse has no income. Given that a spouse of an employed taxpayer may contribute to an IRA even if they themselves don’t have a paid job, a couple fitting this description can sock away extra thousands of dollars for retirement (a full contribution for each partner) while achieving significant tax benefits.
And if you’re wondering whether such marriage incentives (and disincentives) have any effect on whether a couple will marry, they don’t. That said, they do have some influence over how much each spouse works.
Alimony No Longer Deductible; Now Taxable
While we’re talking about marriage, or rather the end of one, a big change under the TCJA is that taxpayers who pay alimony after Dec. 31, 2018, are no longer able to deduct their payments. Likewise, those who received their final divorce decree after Jan. 1, 2019, now have to claim alimony as ordinary income.
Health Insurance Benefits
Possibly the largest financial benefit of getting married is health insurance and the possibility of benefit-shopping. If one person has access to company-sponsored health insurance, they can add their spouse to the policy for an additional cost. If both have access to health insurance they can choose the best or cheapest plan.
Health insurance is a huge and steadily rising cost; marriage can lead to significant savings and/or an upgrade in coverage.
When couples enter a marriage and both have company-sponsored health insurance, they have to decide whether both should keep their own insurance or whether one spouse will join the other's plan. Generally, coverage can be changed in the 60 days following the marriage. Keep in mind that couples who get their health insurance via an exchange must enroll together, although each individual can choose a different plan. Also, if each partner received a subsidy via the Affordable Care Act when single, they likely would be penalized once they are married, as their combined salaries would probably push them over the cutoff threshold—$46,960 for singles; $67,640 combined.
Married couples also tend to get big discounts on long-term care (LTC) insurance, with some discounts at around 40%. This is because couples tend to care for each other at home for as long as possible, reducing the insurer's liability.
Not only is this largely untrue for many couples, but there are several reasons why marriage makes financial sense. First, let’s tackle taxes.
Key Takeaways
- Couples with unequal incomes generally get a marriage bonus.
- The new tax brackets may mean that couples filing jointly are in a lower bracket.
- If their partner has unused tax deductions, taxpayers who qualify may be able to take advantage of those deductions.
- If one spouse has no income, IRA contributions for the other spouse’s income can double, as the working partner can fund an account for each.
- Health insurance can be the greatest financial benefit: A couple whose employers both offer health insurance can choose the plan that's the best or cheapest for them.
- Married couples tend to get discounts on long-term care insurance, auto insurance, and homeowners insurance.
- Married couples often qualify for better credit and better terms on loans.
Yes, America's progressive tax system can cut both ways for couples. Despite various attempts at reform, a marriage penalty still exists for some couples who earn about the same and are pushed into a higher tax bracket when their family income more or less doubles at marriage. This holds true for both high- and low-income couples.
By contrast, couples in which one partner earns all the income—or significantly more than the other—sometimes benefit from a marriage bonus because the higher earner's bracket drops after marriage and they end up paying less in taxes than if they'd filed separately as singles. In all, the marriage bonuses can amount to 21% of a couple’s income, while marriage penalties can amount to as much as 12%, according to the Tax Tax Foundation. Eliminating any and all marriage penalties and bonuses would require a significant rewrite of the tax code that would have far-reaching effects. Instead, lawmakers rely on marriage penalty workarounds.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The advent of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which was signed by President Donald Trump on Dec. 22, 2017, led to several changes to the tax code that were intended to lower corporate, individual, and estate taxes. There has already been much discussion about how the tax code change makes only small reductions to income tax rates for most individual tax brackets while awarding significant tax reductions to corporations. Also, the cuts that benefit individuals will phase out in 2025 but will remain for corporations and other entities. That debate aside, there is much new information for married couples to consider.
Brackets, Phaseouts Aligned
First of all, the new tax brackets for married couples filing a joint return are now double the single bracket rate at the same income, except for those in the 35% and 37% brackets. This alignment limits a primary cause of the previous marriage penalty, as more married couples filing jointly find that their combined incomes now place them in a lower bracket.
Similarly, the child tax credit phaseout has been aligned beginning at $400,000 for couples, which is double the $200,000 phaseout for singles. Previously, the phaseout was $75,000 for singles and $110,000 for couples, so this change eliminated another potential marriage penalty for couples with kids.
AMT Exemption and Phaseout Upped
The alternative minimum tax (AMT) is a tax regime that runs parallel to normal tax rules and applies to higher-income individuals and couples. Under the AMT, when taxes are calculated, the higher of the two figures is what is owed by the taxpayer, much to the ire of those lucky enough to trigger it. The AMT remains under the TCJA, but the new rule has increased both the AMT exemption and the income level at which the AMT phases out. The result is that the AMT will hit fewer high-income taxpayers.
Earned Income Tax Credit Penalties and Bonuses
The marriage penalty can be especially large for taxpayers who qualify for the earned-income tax credit (EIC) when one spouse’s income disqualifies the couple. That said, marriage can boost the EIC if a nonworking parent files jointly with a worker with relatively low earnings.
A couple with $40,000 in combined income (split 50/50), for example, had a tax penalty of more than $2,439 in 2018, according to the Tax Policy Center. If this couple were not married, one parent could file as head of household with two children and the other parent would file as single. Under that structure they would have combined standard deductions of $30,000, which is $6,000 more than the new, aligned $24,000 standard deduction for that income level when filing jointly as a married couple.
When filing separate returns, the head of the household could claim an EITC of $5,434 and a child tax credit of $2,825 (the other parent qualifies for neither credit). This means that the head of the household is due a refund of $8,059, while the other parent owes $800 for a total refund of $7,259. Had this couple filed jointly, they would have seen a far smaller EITC of $2,420 but a larger child tax credit of $4,000. In all, their refund would be $4,820, which is $2,439 less than if they had been unmarried and had filed separately.
Want to see for yourself? Get your financial documents out and use this tool to calculate whether a marriage would (or does) bring a penalty or bonus for you and your significant other.
Tax Shelter?
Is the opportunity to utilize someone's unused deductions a reason to marry them? Probably not. But if the owner of a successful business marries someone who is not taking advantage of their tax deductions, they may be able to reduce their tax burden via a write-off. This may also apply to steep medical expenses. Though this thinking may not be romantic, it is a solid tax-planning strategy.
IRA Contributions
The income ceiling for traditional and Roth IRA contributions is far higher for married couples in which one spouse has no income. Given that a spouse of an employed taxpayer may contribute to an IRA even if they themselves don’t have a paid job, a couple fitting this description can sock away extra thousands of dollars for retirement (a full contribution for each partner) while achieving significant tax benefits.
And if you’re wondering whether such marriage incentives (and disincentives) have any effect on whether a couple will marry, they don’t. That said, they do have some influence over how much each spouse works.
Alimony No Longer Deductible; Now Taxable
While we’re talking about marriage, or rather the end of one, a big change under the TCJA is that taxpayers who pay alimony after Dec. 31, 2018, are no longer able to deduct their payments. Likewise, those who received their final divorce decree after Jan. 1, 2019, now have to claim alimony as ordinary income.
Health Insurance Benefits
Possibly the largest financial benefit of getting married is health insurance and the possibility of benefit-shopping. If one person has access to company-sponsored health insurance, they can add their spouse to the policy for an additional cost. If both have access to health insurance they can choose the best or cheapest plan.
Health insurance is a huge and steadily rising cost; marriage can lead to significant savings and/or an upgrade in coverage.
When couples enter a marriage and both have company-sponsored health insurance, they have to decide whether both should keep their own insurance or whether one spouse will join the other's plan. Generally, coverage can be changed in the 60 days following the marriage. Keep in mind that couples who get their health insurance via an exchange must enroll together, although each individual can choose a different plan. Also, if each partner received a subsidy via the Affordable Care Act when single, they likely would be penalized once they are married, as their combined salaries would probably push them over the cutoff threshold—$46,960 for singles; $67,640 combined.
Married couples also tend to get big discounts on long-term care (LTC) insurance, with some discounts at around 40%. This is because couples tend to care for each other at home for as long as possible, reducing the insurer's liability.
