Max Baucus: “I want to respond to two points that several of our Republican colleagues have made with respect to the Finance…”

“I want to respond to two points that several of our Republican colleagues have made with respect to the Finance Committee bill, the majority bill. The first claim is that the Finance Committee bill, the majority bill, eliminates the marriage penalty. Not true. It does reduce the marriage penalty for some people, to some extent, but it does not eliminate the marriage penalty. Why do I say that? Well, first, let me show you this chart. This chart basically shows, in the main, that there are 65 provisions in the Tax Code that create a marriage tax penalty; 65 different provisions in the code create the so-called marriage tax penalty, the inequity that married people pay. The Republican bill, the Finance Committee bill, addresses some of them. How many? Out of the total of 65, how many do you suppose the Finance Committee addresses? A grand total of three. So 62 of the provisions in the Internal Revenue Code that cause a marriage tax penalty are not addressed by the Finance Committee bill. Let me give you an example. One is the deduction for interest on student loans. The phaseout for this begins at $40,000 for unmarried individuals and about $60,000 for joint return filers. So if two young people each earn $35,000 and they marry, they get hit harder by the phaseout. In other words, they pay a marriage tax penalty.”