Many people claim that once they are married, they pay more taxes than they did before they were married. Many call this a marriage penalty. Suppose that Leni and Thom are lawyers and each has a taxable income of $230,000. They can’t decide if they should be married in December or in January. If they marry in December, then they are considered married for the entire tax year and could file a joint return. If they get married in January of the next year, they would file a separate return each as a single taxpayer. Examine Schedules X and Y-1. Which filing status would yield the lower tax and by how much? Is there really a marriage penalty?

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Schedule Y-1-If your filing status is Married filing jointly or Qualifying widow(er) If your taxable The tax is: income is: Over- $0 18,450 74,900 151,200 230,450 411,500 464,850 But not over- $18,450 74,900 151,200 230,450 411,500 464,850 10% $1,845.00 + 15% 10,312.50 + 25% 29,387.50 +28% 51,577.50+ 33% 111,324.00+ 35% 129,996.50+ 39.6% of the amount over- $0 18,450 74,900 151,200 230,450 411,500 464,850