Bob Schaffer: “the United States Tax Code discourages marriage. No amount of fancy accounting or political rhetoric can dispute this…”

“the United States Tax Code discourages marriage. No amount of fancy accounting or political rhetoric can dispute this fact. Today's vote will assist in relieving a tax burden felt by more than 74 thousand couples in my eastern Colorado district. Statewide, 444,578 Colorado couples are affected by marriage tax penalties--penalties in place just for being married. Mr. Speaker, the current tax law punishes married couples who file income taxes jointly by pushing them into higher tax brackets. The marriage penalty taxes a portion of combined income at higher rates than if each salary were taxed individually. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the federal income tax system imposes a marriage tax penalty on nearly fifty million Americans. Further, Mr. Speaker, the marriage tax penalty discourages hard work by penalizing dual-income married couples more than other individuals. It is unfair and inappropriate for the federal government to impose an additional income tax penalty on married individuals.”