What are the tax benefits of marrying my stay-at-home partner with no income?

You'll likely see some tax advantages by getting married and filing jointly. Here's what to consider: Currently as Head of Household, you get a higher standard deduction than single filers, but Married Filing Jointly would give you an even higher standard deduction ($29,200 for 2025 tax year). The biggest benefit will likely come from the wider tax brackets for married couples filing jointly. Since your partner has no income, your combined income will be spread across these wider brackets, potentially putting more of your income in lower tax brackets than your current HOH status. You may also benefit from a higher income threshold for certain credits, like the Child Tax Credit phase-out. Additionally, you'll be able to contribute to a spousal IRA for your partner despite her not having income, which provides additional tax advantages. One thing to watch for: if you have significant medical expenses, being married might make it harder to deduct them since the threshold is based on a percentage of AGI.

After reading this thread, I wanted to share my experience. I was in almost the exact same situation last year - together 12 years, 2 kids, partner staying home. I was filing as HOH too. The tax stuff was driving me crazy until I found https://taxr.ai which analyzes your specific situation and shows the exact tax difference between filing as HOH vs. married. It showed me I'd save about $3,800 by getting married and filing jointly because of the bracket differences and additional deductions. The tool let me upload my last return and ran comparisons with different scenarios. It even pointed out some credits I wasn't taking advantage of! Might be worth checking out if you want to see exactly how much you'd save in your specific situation.

Just wanted to follow up - I tried that taxr.ai site that was mentioned here and it was super helpful for my situation! I uploaded our previous returns and it showed we'd save about $4,200 by getting married and filing jointly given our specific income and deductions. The analysis broke everything down line by line showing exactly where the savings came from - mostly from the tax bracket differences but also some credits we weren't maximizing. It even suggested a couple of deductions I hadn't thought about related to my partner's previous business before becoming a SAHM. Way more detailed than I expected and definitely cleared up the confusion I had about whether marriage would help or hurt us tax-wise.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet is how frustrating it can be if you need to call the IRS with questions about these kinds of filing status changes. I spent literally DAYS trying to get through to ask about similar situation. I finally used https://claimyr.com and got through to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c They basically hold your place in line and call you when an agent is available. Totally worth it when you have specific questions about how marriage will affect your specific tax situation that online calculators can't fully answer.

I have to eat my words about being skeptical of that Claimyr service. After seeing it mentioned here, I decided to try it because I was desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my filing status change. Got a call back in about 35 minutes (way faster than the hours I'd wasted before), and the IRS agent walked me through exactly how changing from HOH to MFJ would affect my tax situation with a non-working spouse. She even helped me understand some credits I didn't know we'd qualify for after marriage. Total game changer when you need actual IRS confirmation on these kinds of tax questions instead of just guessing or relying on online advice!

One major benefit nobody's mentioned is that marriage protects you both if something happens to either of you. My brother passed away suddenly last year (sorry to get dark) and his long-term girlfriend of 9 years had NO rights and faced huge tax bills on the assets she inherited. If they'd been married, she would have qualified for the unlimited marital deduction for estate tax purposes, plus Social Security survivor benefits. Also, retirement accounts transfer much more easily to spouses. Not trying to be morbid, but these protections are really important even for younger couples.

Has anyone actually calculated how much the marriage benefit is worth? Like a dollar amount? I'm in a similar situation (earning about 95k, partner is SAHM with our 2 kids) and curious what kind of savings we're talking about.

I'm in a very similar situation! Been with my partner for 8 years, I work in tech, and she's been home with our twin boys for the past 3 years. We've been putting off marriage for various reasons, but the tax benefits are definitely something we're considering more seriously now. One thing I'd add to the great advice already here - don't forget about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) thresholds. Even though you're a software developer, depending on your exact income level, you might still qualify for some EITC as a married couple filing jointly where the thresholds are higher than for HOH. It's worth checking since every little bit helps! Also, if your partner has any interest in going back to work part-time eventually, being married gives you more flexibility with things like dependent care FSAs and the child and dependent care credit calculations. The retirement savings angle mentioned earlier is huge too - that spousal IRA contribution can really add up over time and gives you both more security down the road.