topic Does being married hurt self employment taxes? in Self employed

Does being married hurt self employment taxes?

Mdeleon2010 — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 07:04:01 GMT

This may be a silly question, but might as well ask it!

I am self employed and my significant other has asked the question, but I don't know if being married would hurt in terms of making my yearly taxes increase. Any advice on this?

Re: Does being married hurt self employment taxes?

NateTheGrEAt — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 17:54:04 GMT

Hi @Mdeleon2010 thanks for writing in today! It's not a silly question at all. Marriage is an event that can have a significant impact on your taxes and it's wise to do some advance planning.

Unfortunately, there is not one simple answer to the question. Depending on your relative incomes and whether there are dependents in the mix, being married can either cause you to pay more taxes than as two single people, or less. Generally speaking, two people with very unequal incomes will benefit more from being married, whereas two people with relatively similar incomes will benefit less or even have a "marriage penalty" (paying higher taxes due to being married). But that's only a broad-brush answer. The best way I can think of to find your answer is to prepare test returns in TurboTax as if you were married and compare them to the returns you file as single and see what the net difference is.

I hope this helps answer your question!

Re: Does being married hurt self employment taxes?

Mdeleon2010 — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:00:23 GMT

Thank you for answering this question! I was nervous to ask it.

In regards to some of what you said, there are no dependents (nor planning on it) and he makes a little more than myself but not by much. Could filing separately make a difference or would they just end up being the same because we would be married? Ive never been married before so I dont know how that works.

Re: Does being married hurt self employment taxes?

Mdeleon2010 — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 22:32:15 GMT

Hi i just wanted to see if I can get a quick response to this question! 🙂 thanks for all your help today!