9 States Where a Common Law Marriage Can Give You a Tax Break
Written by
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy
Edited by
Nicholas Morine
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To file taxes jointly, you generally must be married. However, some states recognize so-called “common law marriages,”and allow couples to file their taxes together.
In states that recognize common law marriages, you must meet a few requirements to gain marital status, but even these vary by state. Some of the requirements: You must live together for an amount of time, you both must have the “capacity to marry” (the legal right), you must be 18 years old, you both must intend to be married and you both must present yourself as a married couple to others, as Sterling Lawyers explained in an article.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) indicated that a couple “would be treated as married for purposes of Federal income tax filing status and personal exemptions if the couple entered into a common law marriage in a state that recognizes that relationship as a valid marriage.”
In other words, the IRS abides by the law of the state you are in.
There are several advantages to filing taxes as a common law couple, such as combining medical expenses or charitable donations — or claiming a family tax cut for maximizing your credit, as Wallet Genius noted.
States That Recognize Common Law Marriages
States that recognize common law marriages, according to Experian are:
- Colorado
- District of Columbia
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Montana
- Oklahoma
- Rhode Island
- Texas
- Utah
Yet, as Experian noted, “Laws are always changing, and some states don’t explicitly allow or ban common-law marriages, so it’s worth checking your state’s current laws.”
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