John and Susan are a couple but not yet married. They are contemplating the tax effects of getting married. John earns $210,000 and Susan earns $15,000. Ignore itemized deductions and possible children. You can refer to the text for standard deduction and tax rates or to instructions to Form 1040 ( look for instruction of IRS website or google it )

Note: I am planning a series of these Scenarios with ever-increasing complexity. This assignment carrys significant weight (points) in itself, and it will also be the basis for possible future assignments. It is therefore worth your investment of time, effort and careful analysis.

Complete the following table (you must fill each empty box). Year 2019

	John	Susan		Combined	John	Susan
Earns	$ 210,000	$ 15,000		$ 225,000	$ 210,000	$ 15,000
	A	B	A+B	C	D	E	D+E
	John Single	Susan Single	John and Susan are NOT MARRIED. What is their combined tax?	John/Susan Married Filing Jointly (MFJ)	John - Married Filing Separately (MFS)	Susan - Married Filing Separately (MFS)	Combined John/Susan MFS
Standard deduction			NA				NA
Taxable Income			NA				NA
Tax
Show calculations below			NA				NA

Explanation of table above: I want you to compare the tax under three different scenarios (A+B) John and Susan are not married, (C ) John and Susan are married filing jointly, and (D+E) John and Susan are married but filing separately. In part III you will tell me what you have learned.

II. Show tax calculations (for columns A, B, C, D, E)

IIa. Copy and paste tables used Remember to use 2019 tables, no need to show where you got Standard Deduction from

IIb. Show tax calculations You can use any format, including Excel files, as long as they are easy to read and I can follow your logic.

III. Comment on what you have learned (1.5 points; maximum of 0.75 for mediocre work to get full points it must be interesting and high-quality enough to be publishable in a newspaper).