FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 13, 1999
CONTACT: Lisette McSoud Mondello
SENATOR HUTCHISON SAYS MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY REPEAL
'ALL BUT CERTAIN'
'Not a question of whether, but when,' Senator predicts
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said today that the much-hated marriage tax penalty is on its way to oblivion.
"It's no longer a matter of if -- but when and how -- Congress is going to do away with the marriage tax penalty that has placed such a burden on American families," Senator Hutchison said Tuesday.
"The House Ways and Means Committee has one proposal, the Senate Finance Committee another," the Senator said. "I am extremely optimistic that by the end of the year, the marriage tax penalty will be history. It has been on the books too long. I say good riddance."
More than 21 million couples face the marriage tax penalty; 56 percent of those families have incomes of less than $50,000; 12 percent less than $20,000. The tax burden on families has been growing.
Earlier this year, Senator Hutchison introduced legislation, entitled the Marriage Penalty Tax Elimination Act of 1999, S.12, that would double the standard deduction for joint returns (making it twice the standard deduction for single returns). It would also double the income limit for each tax bracket for married couples filing jointly to that of single filers. The tax bill currently moving through the House is similar to S.12.
In addition, she has introduced S. 15, which would allow married individuals to file as a single individual, or jointly. It goes a step further and allows couples to split their income evenly between them before calculating their taxes as singles. A version of this reform provision is being incorporated into the Senate tax bill now under consideration.
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