How it's calculated
Unmarried tax = tax(income₁ − deduction₁) + tax(income₂ − deduction₂)
Married tax = tax(income₁ + income₂ − $32,200) on the joint brackets
Penalty (+) or bonus (−) = married tax − unmarried tax
Married tax = tax(income₁ + income₂ − $32,200) on the joint brackets
Penalty (+) or bonus (−) = married tax − unmarried tax
Enter wages and other ordinary income for each person. For 2026, the joint brackets are exactly twice the single brackets through the 32% bracket, and the joint standard deduction ($32,200) is twice the single one ($16,100). So two people with similar incomes pay about the same either way. A bonus appears when incomes differ: the lower earner's empty low brackets shelter some of the higher earner's income. A penalty appears at high incomes, because the 37% bracket starts at $768,700 for couples but $640,600 for each single filer, and for a head of household who loses that status.
Worked examples (2026)
- $50,000 and $50,000: $3,820 each single, $7,640 married. No difference.
- $100,000 and $0: $13,170 single vs $7,640 married. $5,530 bonus.
- $700,000 and $700,000: $209,000.25 each single ($418,000.50 together) vs $428,250.50 married. $10,250 penalty, from the narrower joint 35% bracket.
What this compares, and what it doesn't
- Federal income tax on wages and other ordinary income with the standard deduction only. Credits aren't included, but they often matter most: the earned income credit, child tax credit phase-outs and the senior deduction phase-out can all shift when incomes combine.
- Capital gains rates, the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax and the 3.8% NIIT (whose joint thresholds are less than double the single ones), student loan payments, and state taxes aren't included.
- Married filing separately is usually no better than filing jointly; see the income tax calculator to check.
Sources
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 – 2026 tax rate tables and standard deductions