Matt Salmon: “I commend Representatives McIntosh, Weller, Herger and Riley for reintroducing the Marriage Penalty Elimination Act. One…”

“I commend Representatives McIntosh, Weller, Herger and Riley for reintroducing the Marriage Penalty Elimination Act. One of the most indefensible aspects of our current tax code is that over 40 percent of married couples pay more in taxes filing jointly than they would if husband and wife each filed individually. This long-overdue legislation will end this discriminatory practice. While I cosponsored the previous version of this legislation, I did not believe it was the best way to eliminate the marriage penalty. Although it eliminated the marriage penalty for the 40 percent of couples who pay more filing jointly than they would separately, it upset the important principle, embedded in current law, that different families with the same total income should be treated equally for tax purposes. Moreover, it did not treat families in which one parent either stays at home or works part-time the same as families in which both parents work full time. At a time when the President is proposing billions of dollars for commercial day care we should be offering credible alternatives that make it easier for working families to keep one parent at home. That's why Representative Riley and I introduced H.R. 3104, the Marriage Protection and Fairness Act. This legislation would permit married couples to use 'income splitting' on their returns, and would increase the standard deduction for married couples.”