October 15, 200421 yr can someone explain this to me. what is the marriage penalty for taxes and how does it penalize people?
October 15, 200421 yr The marriage penalty basically means your paying more in taxes when your married (a husband and a wife) then when the two of you were living single. Its a pretty ridiculous thing and to me their shouldn't be a marriage penalty. For example: Man: Pays 20,000 in taxes a year Women: Pays 20,000 in taxes a year Total = $40,000 This is when they are going out. Now they get married Husband and Wife: 45,000 in taxes a year They now file jointly, which means their incomes are combined and your pooled into a higher tax bracket. At least thats the way I understand it.
October 18, 200421 yr What is the marriage penalty? Your wife Boy I hope your wife doesn't read the boards for your sake, especially if she doesn't know that green means sarcastic.
October 18, 200421 yr but couldn't you just file as married filing separately to avoid this? No because the standard deduction is lower for "married filing separately" - which means that more of your income is taxable and you end up paying more than if you just filed together.
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