Congress has tried to mitigate the so-called marriage penalty, i.e., where a married couple would pay more filing jointly than their combined tax liabilities if they had each filed as a single taxpayer. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) limiting the deduction for taxes to $10,000 for both single and married joint taxpayers took the mitigation of the marriage penalty a step backwards. Where single taxpayers with over $10,000 in deductible taxes only need currently $3,850 more in itemized deductions to itemize in 2023, married joint taxpayers would need $17,700 more. It seems particularly unfair for married couples that both work and pay state and local income taxes. It also could affect a couple's state income tax liability, because most states in order to itemize on the state return require itemizing on the federal return. Since most states have much smaller standard deductions than the federal amounts, this results in a couple paying more in state income taxes. Is this fair? How would you change the law to make it more equitable?

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The current state of the marriage penalty is a complex issue with several different perspectives on fairness and potential solutionsHeres an analysis ... View the full answer