Taxes and Getting Married

There is so much paperwork to go through when you are getting married. Not the least of which is considering your new status with the Internal Revenue Service. But you don't have to worry about that until tax time, right?
Well, maybe not. In example, you might be filing your next tax return under a different or altered name. The Internal revenue Service will probably tag the change, but it could take as long as two years for the information to actually be updated. During this time any communication from the Internal Revenue Service to you could be going without a response. They might think you're ignoring them and they don't like that. The Internal Revenue Service might not even acknowledge getting your income tax return or your refund gets dropped in some dead end file.

Okay, so how do you handle this? Well, not by contacting the Internal Revenue Service. The agency you want to deal with is the Social Security Administration. The Internal Revenue Service tracks people through their Social Security numbers, so you want to be sure that your new name and old number match on the records. It's a five-minute fix by filling out form SS-5.

Next, you want to directly notify the Internal Revenue Service of any address change. You can handle this through your employer, and you should supply them with the new information, but don't trust that they will get the update to the Internal Revenue Service in a timely fashion.

The next step is smart, although not mandatory. Just being married, you are probably now a two-income family. The extra earnings could very possibly knock you into a higher tax bracket. Your individual withholding no longer reflects this change and you probably won't have enough taxes taken out of your current paycheck to cover your new withholding status. You need to change your withholding information with your employer. Your employer is the party ultimately responsible for your withholding taxes and they are best prepared to adjust your withholding to the proper amount so you don't wind up owing at the end of the year.

You might even want to consider talking to a tax expert or financial advisor regarding your new tax status. There are many deductions, credits, and exemptions that will open up to you via the tax code, now that you are married. Since you are already dealing with some of the tax implications of your recent nuptials, why not deal with them all and have a clear idea of where you and your spouse are headed come tax time?

Getting married is of a major decision in anyone's life. It has major tax implications also. Your tax status changes, so as your tax liabilities. How IRS looks at it? How to take care of your tax obligations after marriage? Chintamani Abhyankar elaborates.

Chintamani Abhyankar, is a well known expert in the field of finance and taxation for last 25 years. He has written many books explaining inside secrets of the magic world of personal finance. His famous eBook Stop donating your money to IRS which is now running in its second edition, provides intricate knowledge and valuable tips on personal finance and income tax.