I changed my filing status from single to married filing jointly in W-4, now my take home pay is higher. Will I get tax refund for the period I got paid as single filer?

[jihan_17]

In the beginning of the year, I filled out my W-4 as a single filer, now it’s July and I have changed my filing status in W-4 from single to married, filing jointly. Now my take home pay is a lot higher. I am going to file taxes as married, filing jointly. My question is- will I get a tax return for the difference for first half of the year while my W-4 filing status was single?

[rjs]

"will I get a tax return for the difference for first half of the year"

You never get a tax return. Your tax return is the form you send to the government that shows your income and calculates your tax. The money that the government sends back to you is your refund. The government does not send your return to you. You send your return to the government. After you do that, the government sends your refund to you, if you are due a refund.

Your refund is calculated for the whole year. The amount depends on your total tax for the year and the total amount that was withheld from your pay. It doesn't matter when during the year the tax was withheld. The refund is not calculated separately for parts of the year, even if you changed your withholding mid-year.

The filing status on your W-4 is used only to determine how much gets withheld from your pay. It doesn't matter if it doesn't match the filing status on your tax return, or if you changed the filing status on your W-4 during the year.

[Opus 17]

You file one tax return for the whole year, based on your total income, deductions, credits, dependents, and filing status.  If you paid more into the system than your tax bill, you get the difference as a refund.  

Getting married gives you a larger standard deduction, and will lower your tax bill if your spouse does not work.  However, if your spouse also has a job, you need to take that job into account when filling out the W-4 (all the worksheets on all 4 pages) and then file new W-4s with both jobs based on that calculation.