Originally Posted by
Freightpuppy
I've heard that you get all sorts of tax deductions for being married and you pay less taxes if you are married. Well, when I look at my fiance's income and mine, here is what I see....
Being single, he is in the 25% tax bracket and I am in the 28%. If we were married, we would be in the 28% bracket together with no possible way on God's green earth to have enough deductions to bring us down to 25%. So, I ask....what is the tax advantage to being married?
Thanks.
That's called the "marriage penalty" and is debated year after year in Congress, usually when the majority shifts from repub to dem or vice versa.
When you are married you pay approximately 10% more (on average for somewhere around median income) than if you guys were single.
It not only works for you, it's that way for all married couples where BOTH WORK. If one did not work, ie the "typical" 1950s married couple (man works wife stays home) then married filing jointly is a benefit. But if both have income, you are penalized vs being single.
I actually have a friend of mine who is a heart surgeon and wife is a neurologist---they actually got divorced one year and then remarried after Jan 1st to avoid the penalty (I guess it was enough for a down payment on their massive house they live in now).