Salary LeftMarriage Tax Calculator
Enter both incomes and your state to see whether filing jointly saves you money or costs you more, compared with filing as two single people on the same incomes.
Want the full breakdown for one salary?
Our US salary calculator shows take-home pay by pay period, with the same married-filing-jointly option.
Open the salary calculatorWhy marriage changes your tax bill
Three things change when two incomes move from two single tax returns to one joint return, and they don't all move the same direction:
- Federal and state income tax are computed on your combined income using joint brackets and a doubled standard deduction. If one spouse earns much more than the other, this usually helps, since the lower earner's income effectively starts at the couple's lowest bracket instead of their own. If both spouses earn similarly high individual incomes, the joint brackets don't stretch twice as far, which can work against you.
- Social Security and Medicare tax (FICA) don't change at all. Each spouse's employer withholds it on that spouse's own wages, the same whether you're married or not.
- The Additional Medicare surtax is the one place marital status directly changes a payroll tax: it applies above $200,000 for a single filer, but above a combined $250,000 for a married couple filing jointly, which is less than twice the single threshold. Two spouses each earning $180,000 pay no surtax individually, but owe it on $110,000 of their combined income once married.
Frequently asked
What is the marriage tax penalty?
When a couple pays more combined tax filing jointly than they would have paid as two single filers on the same incomes. It happens most often to two similarly high-earning spouses, because some federal and state brackets, and the Additional Medicare surtax threshold, don't fully double for joint filers.
What is the marriage tax bonus?
The opposite: a couple pays less combined tax filing jointly than they would have as two single filers. It's most common when one spouse earns significantly more than the other, since the lower earner's income gets taxed starting at the couple's lower combined brackets instead of their own.
Who typically gets a marriage bonus vs a penalty?
Couples with one dominant earner and one lower or no earner usually see a bonus. Two spouses with similar, especially high, individual incomes are the most likely to see a penalty, particularly once their combined income crosses the $250,000 joint threshold for the Additional Medicare surtax.
Does this include state tax?
Yes, for all 50 states and Washington, DC, using the same state tax data as our salary calculator. Nine states with no wage income tax show no difference from state tax at all.
Is my data saved anywhere?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser and nothing you type is sent to a server or stored.