PAUL VOTES FOR A PERMANENT END  TO THE MARRIAGE TAX PENALTY

Washington, DC.- Congressman Ron Paul today joined more than 270 of his House colleagues in a bipartisan vote to permanently end the marriage tax penalty. Congress already voted last year to eliminate the penalty as part of the Bush tax cut, but the Senate added a provision that would sunset the tax relief after ten years. Today’s vote was needed to ensure that the unjust tax treatment of marriage would not return in 2011.

"Our tax code should allow married couples the same rates and deductions allowed to single people," Paul stated. "What possible justification exists for penalizing taxpayers for their marital status? No one should have to consider the tax consequences when deciding to marry. Middle and lower-income couples will benefit most from marriage penalty relief, saving $28.8 billion annually according to a Congressional Budget Office report. Taxes are far too high for everyone, married and single alike, and this legislation is a step in the right direction."

Under current tax laws, a married couple often pays more in federal taxes than they would if they were unmarried and filed two individual returns. A marriage penalty occurs, for example, when spouses who both work find themselves in a higher tax bracket as a result of their combined incomes. Similarly, married taxpayers are penalized by a standard deduction that is less than twice the standard deduction for a single taxpayer. The Bush tax plan addresses these penalties by increasing the income levels in the lowest rate bracket for joint returns to twice that of single returns, while similarly increasing the standard deduction for joint returns to twice that of single returns.