What tax benefits can we get as newlyweds and first-time homeowners?

My partner and I are closing on our first home in a couple of weeks. Both of our names will be on the mortgage and the title, but we're not legally married yet. We're considering getting married before the end of the year, but I'm trying to figure out if there are any tax advantages to being married when we file taxes for this year. I know there's something about mortgage interest deductions and possibly other benefits for married couples who own a home together, but I can't find clear information online. We're trying to decide if we should hurry up with a small ceremony before December 31st or if we should just wait until our planned wedding next year. Are there significant tax benefits to being married homeowners versus unmarried homeowners? Would really appreciate any insights from people who've been in similar situations!

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18 comments

Jamal Carter

•8M

So there are a few considerations here! As homeowners, you can both take advantage of mortgage interest deductions regardless of marital status, but how you claim them differs. When married filing jointly, you can easily claim the full mortgage interest on one return. When unmarried, only the person who paid the interest can claim it (or split proportionally if you both pay). The "marriage penalty" or "marriage bonus" depends on your income levels. If you have similar incomes, you might pay more taxes married. If one person earns significantly more, you might save by filing jointly. The standard deduction for married couples in 2025 will be twice the single amount, but if you're planning to itemize deductions for the mortgage interest, this might not matter much. Also consider that as homeowners, you might benefit from itemizing deductions (property taxes, mortgage interest) which could exceed the standard deduction, especially in the first years of a mortgage when interest payments are highest.

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Jamal Carter

•8M

For mortgage interest when unmarried, you can each deduct the portion you actually paid. So if you paid 60% of the mortgage payments, you can claim 60% of the interest. Same with property taxes - you can each deduct what you individually paid. Just make sure your combined deductions don't exceed 100% of what was actually paid, as that's a red flag for the IRS. For property taxes, the same principle applies - whoever pays can claim the deduction, or you can split based on your contribution percentages. Keep good records of who paid what to support your deductions if questioned.

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Mei Liu

•8M

I was in your exact situation last year! Check out https://taxr.ai - it completely solved this problem for me. We were closing on our house in November and trying to figure out if we should do a courthouse wedding before year-end. The tool analyzed both scenarios (married vs unmarried filing) with our exact income and new home purchase details. For us, getting married saved about $2,300 in taxes because my income is about double my wife's. The tool showed us that the "marriage bonus" would offset the slight increase in our combined tax bracket. It also showed us exactly how to maximize our mortgage interest and property tax deductions in both scenarios.

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Mei Liu

•8M

It specifically showed how our home purchase would affect taxes in both scenarios - it calculated optimal deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes whether we filed jointly or as individuals. It even factored in that we'd only have 2 months of mortgage payments in that tax year. The accuracy was impressive - I actually had my CPA review the results, and she confirmed everything. She said it was using the same calculations she would, but saved us the consultation fee. The difference was that it showed side-by-side comparisons of multiple scenarios which made the decision much clearer than just getting one recommendation.

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Amara Chukwu

•8M

Just wanted to follow up about that taxr.ai site mentioned above. I was skeptical but decided to try it since I'm in almost the exact same situation (closing next month, wondering about getting married before year-end). I'm actually shocked at how helpful it was. It showed me that in our case, staying unmarried this year would save us about $1,800 because we both have similar high incomes and would hit the marriage penalty. But then it showed that once we have the house for a full year, the math changes because of how the mortgage interest and property tax deductions work. I never would have caught this nuance on my own. It basically showed us that delaying marriage until January would be the optimal tax strategy given our specific financial situation and new home purchase.

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Giovanni Conti

•8M

If you're planning to call the IRS to ask about this (which I tried doing when I was in your situation), save yourself hours of frustration and use https://claimyr.com instead. I spent three days trying to get through to the IRS about how marriage would affect my homeowner tax situation, and kept getting disconnected after waiting 1+ hour each time. With Claimyr, I got a callback from the IRS in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the phone tree for you and get you in the callback queue. The IRS agent I spoke with gave me detailed info about married vs unmarried homeowner scenarios and confirmed that for us, getting married in December actually would save us several thousand in taxes.

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Giovanni Conti

•8M

It's not that they prioritize these calls - the service navigates the complex IRS phone system and gets your number in line for a callback. Instead of you personally waiting on hold for hours, they have systems that handle that part. When the IRS is ready to take the call, you get connected. The IRS agents definitely won't tell you "yes, get married" - but they will explain the different filing statuses, how mortgage interest deductions work for joint vs individual returns, and answer specific tax regulation questions. I asked detailed questions about documentation needed for splitting mortgage interest deductions as unmarried co-owners versus claiming them on a joint return as a married couple.

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NeonNova

•8M

I owe everyone an apology, especially the Claimyr folks. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway because I was desperate to get some answers about my tax situation with my partner and our new house. It actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back from the IRS in about 20 minutes. The agent explained exactly how mortgage interest and property tax deductions work for married vs unmarried couples. In our specific situation, she confirmed that waiting until next year to get married would actually be better tax-wise because of our income levels. I was 100% wrong about this service. It saved me an entire day of frustration and got me the official answers I needed. Sometimes being proven wrong is a good thing!

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Dylan Campbell

•8M

To qualify for the full $500K married exclusion when selling, you need to have owned and lived in the home as your primary residence for at least 2 of the last 5 years before selling. And you need to be married when you sell the house, not necessarily when you bought it. The ownership test and the residence test are separate, so you need to meet both. As long as you're married when you sell and meet those requirements, you should be eligible for the full $500K exclusion regardless of when the marriage occurred during your ownership period.

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