Marriage Tax Penalty/Bonus Calculator
Compare your federal tax filing jointly vs. as two single filers.
Your Marriage Tax Penalty/Bonus Calculator Result
Generated from the inputs below — a record you can revisit, or share with anyone helping you plan.
Your detailsInput Parameters
Only if itemizing beats the standard deduction -- most filers should leave this at 0
Filing jointly as a married couple saves money vs. filing separately as two single individuals.
Spouse 1: $9,870 + Spouse 2: $5,620
Analysis
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The Marriage Tax Penalty/Bonus Calculator compares your combined federal tax bill filing jointly as a married couple against what you'd each pay filing separately as single individuals. Despite decades of tax law changes aimed at eliminating it, a real marriage penalty or bonus still exists for many couples -- it depends heavily on how close your two incomes are.
Enter each spouse's income. The calculator computes federal tax two ways: each of you as a single filer on your own income, and both of you combined as Married Filing Jointly. The difference is your marriage penalty (if MFJ costs more) or marriage bonus (if MFJ costs less).
Want your full federal liability estimate? Use the Income Tax Calculator for a complete breakdown including credits.
How the Comparison Works
Joint Filing Tax = Tax(Combined Income as Married Filing Jointly)
Marriage Penalty (or Bonus) = Joint Filing Tax − Single Filing Tax
Each scenario applies its own standard deduction (each spouse individually as single, or the joint standard deduction as MFJ) before running the federal bracket tax. A positive result means marriage costs you more in federal tax (a penalty); a negative result means marriage saves you money (a bonus). The effect is typically largest when both spouses earn similar incomes, and often flips to a bonus when one spouse earns substantially more than the other.
Frequently Asked Questions
No -- it depends on how your incomes compare. Couples with similar incomes are more likely to see a penalty, while couples with one dominant earner more often see a bonus, since the lower-earning spouse's income gets taxed at lower joint brackets than it would as a single filer.
The married-filing-jointly brackets are roughly double the single brackets at most income levels, which mostly neutralizes the effect -- but the top bracket thresholds and certain phase-outs aren't perfectly doubled, so a penalty can still appear, especially for higher-income dual-earner couples.
No -- this compares base federal income tax only, using the standard deduction. Credits and other adjustments can shift the result and aren't modeled here. See the Child Tax Credit Calculator separately.