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From: dfi@ihuxo.UUCP (Dan Iuster)
Newsgroups: net.taxes,net.singles,net.flame
Subject: Re: Marriage penalty
Message-ID: <438@ihuxo.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 20-Feb-85 11:21:14 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxo.438
Posted: Wed Feb 20 11:21:14 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 22-Feb-85 20:05:29 EST
References: <285@calmasd.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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Xref: watmath net.taxes:694 net.singles:5911 net.flame:8461

> Question:  What's the difference between big difference between SOs
> living together and SOs married?
> IRS:  The married ones are poorer because they get to pay more taxes.
> 
> My SO and I were married in 1984 (April 15th, as a matter of fact) after
> living together for 1.5 years.  We decided in that 1.5 years, that we
> loved each other and that we wanted to spend the rest of our life together
> (how romantic) so we took the next logical step:  We got married.
> 
> Well, last week I sat down to do our Joint Tax Return for 1984 and to
> my astonishment, I found that we owed an additional $2000 in federal
> taxes.  Now, when we got married, we changed our W-4 forms to "married,
> but withhold at the higher single rate" category.  At the rate the taxes
> were withheld from our paychecks, it seemed to me that everything should
> balance out at year's end.  Instead, I find that we must pay $2000 more in
> taxes married, than we would pay if we were single (I am taking into
> account the deduction for two-earner couples).
> 
> After looking at the tax tables, I figured out that married, we are at
> the marginal tax rate of 38%.  If we were single, both my SO and I would
> be taxed at 30%.  But because we are married, we cannot file as single.
> There is a category of "married, filing separately" but that tax rate is
> even higher than the married rate (I calculated that too).
> 
> It seems to me that something is terribly unfair here.  And the
> incredible thing is I don't hear anybody else complaining about it.  Is
> there anyone else out there that has run into the same problems?  Is
> there anything we can do about it?  Any suggestions?  Should we get a
> divorce?
> 
> (I should have listened to my mother.  She told us not to get married.)
> 
> Spike
> {ucbvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!sdcc6!calmasd!stj

Yup, sounds like divorce is the only solution.  After all a little piece
of paper that says you're married is only a piece of paper.  By the way
a no fault divorce is only ~$300.  Considering the $2000 you are saving
the payback period is about 2-3 month.

.P.S.  Your mother  was right.
-- 

               ~~~~~~~
	      /       \				Dan F. Iuster
	     /  -   o  \			ihnp4!ihuxo!dfi
	    (   ) | (   )			AT&T Bell Laboratories
	     \   \_/   /			ih 6n-427, x2994
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	   "Have a nice Day"