Tax Tips are not a substitute for legal, accounting, tax, investment or other professional advice. Always consult with your trusted accounting advisor before acting upon any Tax Tip.
What is the Marriage Penalty?
If you are recently married, you’ll have to contend with a few more issues besides your spouse’s snoring. You’ll also have to deal with new tax issues while spending your days and nights being blissful in eternal love.
First, you’ll have to make a decision concerning how to file your taxes, as you’ll have a choice between “married filing separately” or “married filing jointly”.
Combining two spousal income often equates to a higher household taxable income, than it obviously would have if you remained single. In a number of cases, this means more taxes you’ll have to pay, in part, due to the “marriage penalty tax”.
The marriage penalty affects couples living in the United States and refers to the increased taxes required to be paid by some married couples. In general, the marriage penalty tax is imposed on couple who have approximately the same salaries, or otherwise have roughly the same amount of taxable income, and file one return under the “marriage filing jointly” tax filing option.
Whenever both working spouses have to pay a higher combine, or “joint” tax rate on the identical income than they would be paying had they each been single, that’s generally when the marriage penalty kicks in.
However, the good news is that not all marriage couples have to contend with the marriage penalty tax. Some married couples actually pay less as a couple than they would as single. Generally speaking, this happens when these spouses earn disparate incomes, such as a doctor and a social worker.
First, you’ll have to make a decision concerning how to file your taxes, as you’ll have a choice between “married filing separately” or “married filing jointly”.
Combining two spousal income often equates to a higher household taxable income, than it obviously would have if you remained single. In a number of cases, this means more taxes you’ll have to pay, in part, due to the “marriage penalty tax”.
The marriage penalty affects couples living in the United States and refers to the increased taxes required to be paid by some married couples. In general, the marriage penalty tax is imposed on couple who have approximately the same salaries, or otherwise have roughly the same amount of taxable income, and file one return under the “marriage filing jointly” tax filing option.
Whenever both working spouses have to pay a higher combine, or “joint” tax rate on the identical income than they would be paying had they each been single, that’s generally when the marriage penalty kicks in.
However, the good news is that not all marriage couples have to contend with the marriage penalty tax. Some married couples actually pay less as a couple than they would as single. Generally speaking, this happens when these spouses earn disparate incomes, such as a doctor and a social worker.
[View Article List]
TAX ADVICE DISCLAIMER: In accordance with IRS Circular 230, any tax advice included in this communication, including attachments, is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used by you or any other person or entity, for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code or applicable state or local tax law provisions, nor may any such advice be used to promote, market or recommend to another party any transaction or matter addressed within this communication. If you would like such advice, please contact us.