Rates last updated: 22 October 2026 · How we verify
Year of Marriage Tax Relief: The Refund for the Months After the Wedding, and What Changes the Year After
Getting married does nothing to your tax in the year it happens: you and your spouse stay taxed as two single people until 31 December. But if being assessed jointly would have cost less, Revenue gives back the difference for the part of the year you were married. Almost nobody claims it, because nobody is told it exists.
- In the year of marriage or civil partnership you're each taxed as single; after 31 December a year-of-marriage review refunds the joint saving for the months married.
- A couple on €70,000 and €20,000 who marry on 1 April get €1,350 back (Tax Refund calculator).
- From the following year you choose joint assessment, separate assessment or separate treatment, and joint assessment is where the saving continues.
Below: why the year of marriage is taxed as single, the review with Revenue's example and ours, who gains and who does not, the three options from the next year, and how to claim within the four-year window.
How is the year of marriage taxed in Ireland?
- For the whole year you marry, each of you keeps your own credits, your own €44,000 band and your own return, as if nothing had happened.
- Revenue doesn't know you married until you tell it, and joint assessment only starts from the following 1 January.
- The year-of-marriage relief is the bridge between the two.
The reason is mechanical: joint assessment pools a couple's income and bands for a full tax year, and a couple married on 10 July cannot be pooled for January to July. So Revenue keeps the single treatment for the year and corrects it afterwards, for the married part, by way of refund.
Revenue's page on the year of marriage and the following years sets out the rule and the options that follow.
What is the year-of-marriage review worth?
- After 31 December you take what you paid as singles minus what you'd have paid jointly for the full year, times the months married over twelve.
- Revenue's example: married 10 July, €8,100 as singles, €6,900 jointly, difference €1,200, six months married, refund €600.
- The refund is split between you in proportion to the tax each paid.
The refund can only ever be positive. If joint assessment would have cost more, which happens when both earn similar amounts and neither has unused credits or band, there is nothing to refund and nothing to pay; the single treatment simply stands.
Months are counted from the date of marriage to the end of the year. The month of the wedding counts in full, as in Revenue's own example (married 10 July, six months): a December wedding gets one-twelfth of the difference and a January wedding the whole of it. The same rule applies to a civil partnership (one registered abroad, since new civil partnerships can no longer be registered in Ireland).
What does a couple on €70,000 and €20,000 get back?
- One partner on €70,000 and the other on €20,000, married on 1 April 2026, pay €15,200 of income tax as singles against €13,400 jointly.
- The €1,800 difference, for nine months married, gives a refund of €1,350.
- It's paid in proportion to the tax each paid, which here means all of it to the higher earner.
As two single people, 2026:
| Calculation | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| Partner A, €70,000 | €44,000 × 20% + €26,000 × 40% − €4,000 credits | €15,200.00 |
| Partner B, €20,000 | €20,000 × 20% − €4,000 credits | €0.00 |
| Total as singles | €15,200.00 |
Jointly assessed for the full year: the 20% band becomes €53,000 for the main earner plus the lower of €35,000 and the second income, so B's €20,000 is all at 20% and A's band is €53,000.
| Calculation | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| Partner A | €53,000 × 20% + €17,000 × 40% | €17,400.00 |
| Partner B | €20,000 × 20% | €4,000.00 |
| Less married credit and two employee credits | €4,000 + €2,000 + €2,000 | −€8,000.00 |
| Total jointly | €13,400.00 | |
| Difference | €15,200 − €13,400 | €1,800.00 |
| Refund for nine months | €1,800 × 9 ÷ 12 | €1,350.00 |
What produced the saving: €9,000 of A's income moved from 40% to 20%, worth €1,800. B's unused credits do not transfer under joint assessment while B has income; it is the band that moves. USC and PRSI are unchanged in both cases and are never part of the review.
Who gains from the review, and who does not?
- Couples with unequal incomes where the higher earner pays 40%, and couples where one partner earns little or nothing, gain.
- Two people each earning over €44,000 gain nothing, because neither has band or credits to spare.
- Two people each under €44,000 with full-year jobs usually gain nothing either, for the same reason.
- Both above €44,000. Each already uses a full €44,000 band and €4,000 of credits; pooling adds nothing. No refund, no loss.
- One above €44,000, one below. The band increase moves the lower earner's unused 20% band to the higher earner, up to €35,000 of the lower income. This is the typical refund case.
- One with no income. The married credit of €4,000 replaces two personal credits of €2,000, and the band rises to €53,000, worth up to €1,800 a year; the Home Carer Tax Credit may apply on top, as explained in the Home Carer Tax Credit.
- Married abroad. The relief applies from the date of a valid marriage wherever it took place, provided Revenue is told; a couple who married in Italy or India in March and moved to Ireland in September can ask for the review for the months from arrival, though a first part-year in Ireland also raises residence and split-year questions that the review does not settle.
A move to Ireland in the year of marriage, or an arrival part-way through the following year, interacts with residence and part-year refunds, which are covered in moving to Ireland: how cross-border taxes work and how to claim tax back in Ireland.
What happens from the following year?
- From 1 January after the wedding you choose joint assessment, separate assessment or separate treatment, and joint is the default once you tell Revenue.
- Joint is one combined calculation, usually the cheapest; separate shares unused credits and band; separate treatment is as if single, with no sharing.
- You can change the option for a later year.
Joint assessment is also the gateway to the Home Carer Tax Credit and to pooling medical expenses on one return. The full mechanics, including who is the assessable spouse and how to switch, are in joint assessment in Ireland.
How do you claim it, and how far back?
- After the year ends, update your marital status in myAccount, file each of your returns for the year and request the review through MyEnquiries.
- The refund issues to each of you in proportion to the tax you paid.
- Any of the four open years can be reviewed, so a 2022 wedding can still be claimed until 31 December 2026.
- Update your marital status in myAccount with the date of marriage; both partners' records need it.
- File the Income Tax Return for the year of marriage, each of you, adding any reliefs for that year.
- Request the year-of-marriage review through MyEnquiries, stating the date of marriage and both PPSNs.
- Elect your assessment option for the following year; joint assessment is applied once Revenue has the marriage on record, and can itself be backdated to the year after the wedding within the four-year window.
The refund appears as an amended Statement of Liability for the year; how to read it is in Statement of Liability explained.
What does Revenue actually ask for?
- The date of marriage or civil partnership registration, both PPSNs, and the Income Tax Returns for the year.
- Revenue can ask for the marriage certificate, with a certified translation for a marriage abroad, so keep it to hand.
- Marriage or civil partnership certificate, with a translation if not in English or Irish.
- Both partners' Employment Detail Summaries for the year of marriage.
- Both IBANs on your Revenue profiles, because the refund is paid to each of you separately.
If the wedding, a move to Ireland and a change of job fall in the same year, our Tax Back service runs the review and the four open years together. No refund, no fee.
Where do you start?
Check "My Profile" in myAccount. If your marital status still says single and you married in 2022 or later, update it with the date and request the review for the year of marriage; the 2022 year closes on 31 December 2026.
Related reading
Questions we get asked
Do I pay less tax in the year I get married in Ireland?
Not automatically. You are taxed as two single people for that year. After 31 December you can request a year-of-marriage review, and if joint assessment would have cost less, Revenue refunds the difference for the months from the wedding date.
How is the year-of-marriage refund calculated?
Tax paid as singles minus tax that would have been due jointly for the full year, multiplied by the months married over twelve. Revenue's example: a €1,200 difference and six months married gives €600, shared between the couple in proportion to the tax each paid.
Who benefits from joint assessment?
Couples with unequal incomes where one partner pays 40% tax, and couples with one income. Two partners each earning above €44,000 gain nothing, because both already use a full band and full credits.
We married abroad. Does the relief still apply?
Yes, from the date of a valid marriage wherever it took place, once Revenue has it on record. Keep the certificate and a certified translation if it is not in English or Irish.
Can I still claim for a wedding in 2022?
Yes, until 31 December 2026. The year-of-marriage review and the election for joint assessment from the following year can both be made for any of the four open years.