Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site lcuxc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!cbdkc1!desoto!cord!bentley!hoxna!houxm!mhuxj!mhuxm!mhuxn!mhuxb!mhuxr!ulysses!gamma!pyuxww!lcuxc!wjm From: wjm@lcuxc.UUCP (B. Mitchell) Newsgroups: net.taxes Subject: Re: Marriage Penalty and Fairness Message-ID: <244@lcuxc.UUCP> Date: Wed, 13-Feb-85 23:09:46 EST Article-I.D.: lcuxc.244 Posted: Wed Feb 13 23:09:46 1985 Date-Received: Fri, 15-Feb-85 03:52:33 EST Organization: Bell Communications Research, Inc. Lines: 19 The problems with the "marriage penalty" (regardless of whether you're married or single - you may (depending on the distribution of income between the partners) pay more by changing marital status) can be solved (together with many other tax related problems) by going to a simplified flat tax structure. If you pay the government x% of all income, it makes no difference whether 2 persons of opposite sex file separately or jointly, they will pay the same total tax on their total income. As for "fairness", it seems to me that giving the government a constant percentage of income, without a large number of execptions, is the fairest approach to taxes. It may be socially desirable to exempt the first y dollars (or whatever your currency is) from taxation, but that is the only execption that is reasonable for a flat tax. Regards, Bill Mitchell (ihnp4!lcuxc!wjm)