THE RISE AND FALL AND RISE ... OF THE MARRIAGE TAX

In this paper, we use household data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to calculate the real value of the so-called "marriage tax" or "marriage subsidy" in the federal individual income tax over the period 1967 to 1994. Our calculations demonstrate that the marriage tax/sub...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:National tax journal 1996-12, Vol.49 (4), p.571-589
Main Authors: ALM, JAMES, WHITTINGTON, LESLIE A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arithmetic mean
Children
Couples
Divorce
Economic aspects
Families & family life
Family
Family structure
Husband and wife
Income taxes
Itemized deductions
Joint tax returns
Marriage
Single tax system
Subsidies
Tax aspects
Tax liabilities
Tax policy
Tax returns
Tax subsidies
Taxation
Taxpaying
United States
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Summary:In this paper, we use household data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to calculate the real value of the so-called "marriage tax" or "marriage subsidy" in the federal individual income tax over the period 1967 to 1994. Our calculations demonstrate that the marriage tax/subsidy can be calculated in numerous defensible ways; its magnitude—in fact its very existence—is quite sensitive to the assumptions made about financial arrangements outside of marriage. Our calculations also demonstrate that the average tax or subsidy has varied substantially over time. These changes are due both to changes in the tax code and, especially, to changes in family characteristics over this period.
ISSN:0028-0283
1944-7477
DOI:10.1086/NTJ41789227