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In the U.S. tax code there are both marriage rewards and marriage penalties. Community property law (about 1/3 of U.S. population by state) further muddies the water.

"Two high earners" is not a meaningful description. Two people each earning $500K is far different than one earning $300K and one earning $700K.

Sure; but we file separately while unmarried as well. I noted that because it’s often listed as one of the objective benefits of marriage.

You cannot file as single while married.

You can file as 'Married, filing separately', at least in the US. We considered it last year, but jointly ended up saving us a bit of money in our situation (I was surprised, I assumed based on something in our circumstance I don't remember offhand that it would be the other way around).

You will pay more tax than file as single.