Some Simple Ways That We Can Fix the ‘Marriage Penalty’

Kathy Kristof implies that the “marriage penalty” or its converse, the marriage bonus, are almost as inevitable as death and taxes [“No Easy Fix to ‘Marriage Penalty,’ ” Personal Finance, Oct. 4].

While the examples she presents are unquestionably valid--her conclusion, that this problem has no easy fix (except perhaps adopting a questionable flat tax)--ignores the most obvious of all solutions.

Equity for the married and single alike can be restored by simply forcing the omission of questions about filing status from the tax form. It should not be the legitimate business of the tax man to know whether taxpayers are married or single. Each filer should pay whatever tax is appropriate to his or her own income and deductions. For married couples, the exemptions for children and other dependents can be divided or prorated by some simple scheme.

While this would work well enough for most forms of taxable income, there are potential, but easily surmountable, problems in community property states, such as California.

Above all, we are entitled to tax simplicity as well as tax equity. There is no need to accept complexity as the price for equity, as most tax writers would have us believe.

SIDNEY LEWINTER

Redondo Beach

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* What hogwash.

There is a simple, direct and honest way to fix the “marriage penalty.” Simply fix the rates for married taxpayers filing separately to be the same as for singles. That would not only fix the penalty, it would actually shorten the tax code.

Why this elaborate effort at dissimulation? One rather obvious explanation: The object is not to fix the penalty, but rather to create the appearance of attempting a fix while actually doing nothing of any consequence.

Why? Just to make it possible for the political types, in their campaigns, to lay claim to supporting a fix.

You in the media should be exposing that charade, not participating in the attempt to justify it.

DAVID M. TURNER

Rancho Palos Verdes

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* The young married couple in the column find their taxes have increased now that they are married and together are earning double what they did before. Oh, boo hoo. This is a “marriage penalty”? That term is total nonsense.

Their taxes should increase. They now have twice the money to live on.

A married couple or single person have to pay approximately the same thing for housing and only a little more for everything else. Tax-wise, married couples are making out like bandits, while single people--divorced, widowed or never married--are penalized for circumstances that are very often beyond their control. Our tax code penalizes single people who live on much less by making them pay much higher taxes, period.

If there are children, parents get added exemptions to reduce their taxes, so there is simply no justification for a different tax rate for married people filing jointly and single people, who currently are paying part of married couples’ real fair share of income taxes.

There should be no tax reform without equalizing the tax rate for single people and married couples filing jointly.

KAYE KLEM

Mission Viejo