Once you decide to marry your girlfriend (and become a groom) you'll be faced with a ton of life changes in short succession. You may be living with someone for the first time. You're likely to have a shiny, new and permanent fixture on your left hand to twist nervously. In your wife's case - she may have changed her name to yours. While every groom and bride faces marriage differently, one thing is constant for newlywed grooms and brides across the United States: the marriage will affect your taxes. Here's how.

Singledom: Your Taxes Before You Get Married

As swinging singles, brides and grooms alike file their taxes as individuals. Pretty straightforward, right? If you earned $50,000 in untaxed income, without any deductions, exemptions, or dependents, you would pay approximately $7,770 in federal income tax. Fill in a box here, fill in a box there, and get the form in on time. Grooms and brides have been doing this since their early days working at McDonald's.

The Marriage Penalty

Back when our parents were swinging singles, unmarried taxpayers got a nasty reminder of their single status come tax time. In 1969, for example, taxpayers who were unmarried had to fork over 42% more in taxes to the Feds than a married couple who earned the same income. The politicians decided to get involved and take action, and, in 1971, a "marriage tax penalty" was enacted. The marriage penalty guaranteed that unmarried taxpayers would pay no greater than 20% more in taxes than a married couple earning the same income.

Coupledom: When You Get Married

When Congress stepped in to try to level the playing field, it was not uncommon for the wife to stay at home while the husband was the sole breadwinner. Today's story is different - with women by and large out in the workforce just like their husbands. Accordingly, when you get married, you'll like file taxes on a joint basis with your spouse. That means one, single, tax return reporting all of your income as a couple. And that's a good thing, because married couples filing jointly typically owe less in taxes. That said, you can elect to file as if you were single, but at a rate that is higer than actually being unmarried for tax purposes. Accordingly, you can file as "married, filing jointly" or "married, filing separately."

Experts agree that it is overwhelmingly beneficial for married couples to file their taxes jointly. New York-based tax specialist and owner of Protax Consulting, Marc Strohl, identifies one scenario in which filing jointly can be hugely beneficial: if only one person is working and is a high net worth individual. (Lucky them!) For couples who decide that either the husband or wife will stay at home to raise the children - or for any other reason - filing jointly will ease the breadwinner's individual tax burden greatly come April. article continues...
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