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The Marriage Penalty
vs.
The Singles Penalty
The truth about the marriage penalty and the much larger singles penalty.
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This election year (2004), it seems as though all the candidates have reached out to every group of voters except those of us who are single/unmarried. We are always forgotten come election time. I hope that will change since we will soon become the majority.
My main concern is equal taxation. As an unmarried (single) person, my penalty was already significantly larger than a married person's, and it was increased with the latest tax cuts. Most people are unaware of this penalty because there is little said about it, and those who are aware of it, ignore it. To better illustrate these penalties, I will use examples that include couples, although legally an unmarried couple is considered two single people.
An example:
Two couples live off one income, one married, and one unmarried. Both earn 30,000 per year. Before the tax cuts, the unmarried couple's tax was $3,045 and the married couple's tax was $1,823. The penalty for being unmarried was $1,222. After the tax cuts, this penalty increased to $1,520.
Next...
Two couples, one married and one not, live off two incomes. All four earn $30,000 per year. Before the tax cuts, the unmarried couple's tax was $6,090 and the married couple's tax was $6,323. The penalty for being married was $233.
So, which penalty was eliminated? The smaller penalty...the one for being married...even though most couples got a big bonus anyway. 100% of unmarried people have always been penalized, and now that penalty is even bigger. My question to the presidential candidates is this:
Where is the tax relief for unmarried Americans? Why can't we base our income tax on income, and not whether one is married, has children, a dog, or green hair? Some people choose to be unmarried, while others do not. Whether it is a choice or not, it is grossly unfair to punish someone via income taxes because of his/her lifestyle. Let's eliminate these lifestyle taxes, and return to the system of taxing income.
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You'll notice that while the majority of the marriage penalties were either eliminated or greatly decreased, the majority of the singles penalties increased.
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© 2004 MarriagePenalty@aol.com
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