what is so called "The Marriage Tax Penalty"

来源: 美西游子 于 2010-02-20 08:42:02 [] [博客] [旧帖] [给我悄悄话] 阅读数 : (1489 bytes)
本帖于 2010-02-22 09:49:14 时间, 由普通用户 laoyangdelp 编辑
回答: 1040和理财投资（II) 由 Morning3evening4 于 2010-02-19 18:32:37

The marriage penalty in the United States refers to the higher taxes required from some married couples, where spouses are making approximately the same taxable income, filing one tax return ("married filing jointly") than for the same two people filing two separate tax returns if they were unmarried (i.e. filing as "single", not "married filing separately"). The percentage of couples affected has varied over the years, depending on shifts in tax rates.

The source of this increase in taxes has its roots in the progressive tax-rate structure in income-tax laws, that is, a higher income pays a higher rate of tax. In such a context, income averaging is advantageous to the taxpayer. E.g. two married persons, one making $80,000 and the other making $20,000 in a particular year, will pay a lower combined tax than they would if both had an income of $50,000 in the same year and filed as two single people.

In the U.S., income averaging (i.e., the "married filing jointly" status) was advantageous to a married couple with disparate incomes. To compensate for this somewhat, the U.S. provided a higher tax bracket for the averaged income of a married couple. While income averaging might still benefit a married couple with a stay-at-home spouse, such averaging would cause a married couple with roughly equal personal incomes to pay more total tax than they would as two single persons. However, this disparity has been largely eliminated under current tax law.

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• confusing enough? help is on the way.... -美西游子- ♀ 给 美西游子 发送悄悄话 美西游子 的博客首页 (115 bytes) () 02/20/2010 postreply 09:35:10

• This article is very old, right? -Morning3evening4- ♂ 给 Morning3evening4 发送悄悄话 Morning3evening4 的博客首页 (145 bytes) () 02/20/2010 postreply 12:16:15

• yes, it is. but it won't hurt to take a peek in order to -美西游子- ♀ 给 美西游子 发送悄悄话 美西游子 的博客首页 (52 bytes) () 02/20/2010 postreply 12:33:49

• Here is a newer article. -美西游子- ♀ 给 美西游子 发送悄悄话 美西游子 的博客首页 (175 bytes) () 02/20/2010 postreply 12:36:34

• IN SHORT -美西游子- ♀ 给 美西游子 发送悄悄话 美西游子 的博客首页 (263 bytes) () 02/20/2010 postreply 12:46:56

• Sure, always compare. -Morning3evening4- ♂ 给 Morning3evening4 发送悄悄话 Morning3evening4 的博客首页 (88 bytes) () 02/20/2010 postreply 12:56:23

• This is a little bit off the topic-- -Morning3evening4- ♂ 给 Morning3evening4 发送悄悄话 Morning3evening4 的博客首页 (464 bytes) () 02/20/2010 postreply 12:54:25

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