<prompt> Human: A little background: We have our wedding date planned for the beginning of January. However, we would have no problem with getting legally married in late Dec if it would be better tax wise. nbsp;Heres the situation. I work full time 80K a year and shes in grad school working as a TA 13K a year. Shell also be working an internship this summer earning another 6-8K. Would we getting a better deduction on our taxes by filing jointly as a married couple rather than as separate entities?  <response>: This is pretty much a slam dunk to get legally married in 2015. As a comparison, the year my wife and I got married we had a large income disparity like this. Our combined income in the year I got married was 15k greater than the previous year when I filed single. However, the MFJ with 15k more income paid 4,500 less federal tax compared to my last single tax return. 