Living in Sin for Fun and Profit

I don't recall your position, so I don't know if this guy agrees with you or not.

But I don't read anything in his article that pertains to "living in sin for fun and profit". He states marriages, that is GOOD marriages, are very desirable and beneficial. But, most people don't know how to go about choosing a spouse and making a marriage work.

Based on this forum and your subject line, I was expecting some sort of tax analysis that foregoing marriage affected the bottom line in a positive way. Nope, nothing about money at all.

Well, there is a marriage tax penalty for about one third of married couples. Their total income tax liability would be lower if they could file as single.

My observations of couples about to marry detected little concern about taxes in either of the societally described "happy couple."

I'd also say that there is a marriage penalty for a part of the remaining two thirds. Here's my reasoning: If the thresholds for the married filing jointly tax brackets was increased to be exactly double that of single filers, along with thresholds for AMT exemption, AMT phaseout, itemized deduction phaseout, etc, then there would be no marriage penalty. Thus two single people paying making $200k each would pay the same tax when they marry and make $400k as MFJ. However, under current law they hit the 35% bracket when MFJ, less AMT exemption, more AMT exemption phaseout, etc, and could pay $10,000 more in tax. But if the thresholds were doubled, there would be no marriage penalty. However, this doubling of the threshold would also help the family where one person works and the other stays at home, which is part of the remaining two thirds. Say a single person works and makes $200k, the marries someone who stays at home. Under current law, filing MFJ this person saves money, but under the doubling proposal they would save even more. Just as two spouses making 100k each would see their marriage penalty eliminated under the new rules, the family with one person working and still a household income of $200k would save that same amount. Thus I conclude that marriage penalty affects couples with one stay-at-home spouse provided the income is high enough.

The medicare tax as part of the health care bill has marriage penalty too, because it affects single people making over 200k, and married over 250k.

I have seen couples marry after the end of the year to minimize the effect of the marital penalty.

"Pico Rico" wrote

"Living in Sin For Fun and Profit" is the working title for Dick's soon-to-be-published book.

He's been working on it for many years now.

Dick I hope for your speedy recovery or any problems are found, plan of attack initiated and you get better - whichever is the case. Cathy Herber in Kansas

My position is that there two marriage penalties. The first is the Marriage Tax also known as the Additional Income Tax Penalty where your additional income is taxed at a higher rate.

Unless and until Congress recognizes Domestic Partnerships (DP) as an equivalent to marriage you can avoid the Marriage Tax Penalty by simply entering into a DP

The second is In-Law Penalty where the "quiet enjoyment of your life" is taxed by people who want to control you.

If your mother-in-law is a friend of yours, the God to whom you pray has blessed you with an immense wealth.

Dick

Reminds me of the story about the guy whose doctor told him he has only six months to live.

"Isn't there anything that can be done to help?"

"Well, you can go live with your mother-in-law."

"What good will that do?"

"You won't live any longer, but it will seem like an eternity."

The article you posted has nothing to do with this. Also, penalty arises from phaseouts, etc. For singles the AMT exemption $47,450 but for marrieds it is $72,450. Thus two single people are more likely to hit AMT when they marry. Also phaseout of the AMT starts at $112,500 for singles and $150,000 for marrieds, so married couples will see their AMT exemption phased out more. Similarly with the itemized deduction phaseout, exemption phaseout (not sure if these apply in

One of the disadvantages of DP is that when you pay for health insurance for your partner at work, the extra amount you pay for that spouse is not pre-tax.