Who this is for
Newly married couples and couples who have reached 12 months of living together. That makes them common-law for tax purposes (sooner if they have a child together). Also couples who have been together for years and never updated the CRA.
The five things
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Tell the CRA. Report a change in marital status by the end of the month after it happens, through My Account, the app or Form RC65. For common-law, the date is when you reach 12 months together, or sooner if you have a child together. Not reporting it can mean benefit overpayments that the CRA claws back later.
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Benefits are recalculated on family income. The Canada child benefit, the BC family benefit and the GST-related credits use adjusted family net income, which now includes both of you. Payments change from the month after the CRA is told. A new partner’s income can reduce or end a benefit the other partner was receiving.
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Credits can be combined. If your spouse’s net income is low, you may claim the spouse or common-law partner amount. Medical expenses for the family can be pooled on one return, usually the lower-income spouse’s. Donations can be claimed by either spouse, and unused tuition, age, pension and disability amounts can be transferred within limits.
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New tools open up. A spousal RRSP lets the higher earner contribute to a plan in the other’s name, with the three-year attribution rule to remember. Pension income splitting starts at 65 for most pension income. Each of you can name the other as successor holder on a TFSA, which keeps the account tax-free on death.
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One principal residence between you. A couple can designate only one home as their principal residence for any year. If each of you owned a home before, the gain on the second property may be taxable when it is sold. That applies to the years after you became a couple. Keep the purchase records for both.
How the pieces connect
Marriage changes the test for benefits from your income to your family’s income, which can go either way. The credits and the spousal RRSP are where the tax system rewards planning as a couple. The TFSA, RRSP and insurance beneficiary forms are the housekeeping that goes with it. A will is the legal piece that we do not do.
One thing many people do not realize
You do not file a joint return in Canada. Each spouse files their own, but the CRA uses both incomes for benefits and credits. So a marriage can reduce one partner’s GST-related credit or child benefit even though nothing on their own return changed. The family income is now the test.
What to prepare
- Both Notices of Assessment
- The date of the marriage, or the date you reached 12 months together
- Medical receipts and donation receipts for both of you
- Purchase dates and prices for any home either of you owns
When professional help may make sense
Two homes, or a large income gap. A child from a previous relationship. A partner who is new to Canada, or a separation after a short marriage.
How Rex Tax may be able to help
We update the CRA, file both returns so the credits land in the right place, and set up the spousal RRSP and beneficiary review. Parminder Singh Oberoi can review life insurance through Punjab Insurance Agency Inc.
Official sources
- Canada Revenue Agency: Change your marital status
- Canada Revenue Agency: Canada child benefit, how much you can get
- Canada Revenue Agency: Line 30300, spouse or common-law partner amount
- Canada Revenue Agency: Withdrawing from spousal or common-law partner RRSPs
- Canada Revenue Agency: TFSA successor holder
- Canada Revenue Agency: Principal residence and other real estate
This guide is general information, not advice about your situation. It reflects the rules for the 2026 tax year. It has not yet been reviewed by a practitioner. The information was checked against the official sources listed above on the date shown. Rules change. Check the official sources above or ask us. How we prepare these guides.