Do the math.
Whether you get a tax bonus by being married or end up paying the marriage penalty depends on how much income you and your partner make and how it’s divided between you. Type your own numbers in [at the link] to see how marriage affects your taxes.
The link goes to FiveThirtyEight, where I love the update:
In response to comments on Twitter, we’ve changed the color scheme of these graphics from green-and-red to blue-and-red to make it possible for people with red-green colorblindness to read them clearly.
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48 comments:
We lose by being married because we have kids. If I was a single parent and he was my live in boyfriend, we'd get free food, medical care, etc.
In the future, only gay or intentionally childless couples will come out ahead by being married in the eyes of the law.
Interesting, since you get more of what youy subsidize. Apparently the state wants fewer children of married couples....
That would, of cours, also depend on whether you and your "boyfriend" were willing to take "charity" from the state.
The analysis is quite incomplete. There are higher social security benefits for being married (at least for 10 years) and estate tax exemptions, etc.
In general, two earner spouses pay some more in taxes than just shacking up while couples in which one spouse stays at home pays a little less.
At the very low end of the income line, welfare benefits favor the single with kids. It would be best for these folks to remain unmarried.
OK, sponge ofd the state, and dispense with quotation marks.
Trouble in Paradise? Looking for a way out??
Should You Get Married (Or Divorced) For Tax Reasons?
No.
I hope you know that by
Directing me to 538 which I've now bookmarked, I'll be spending less time here.
As a family lawyer, generally I would recommend no one ever get married. There just doesn't seem to be much benefit and if the wife wants to skip out on you with the latest truck driver she won't own your property or business.
You still have all the rights and duties for the children, so what's the benefit? Tax benefits are too fleeing, they are apt to change at any time, but the property division in a divorce is always going to be there.
So says a married man. There are a lot of social pressures for getting married. In Texas you can't just get married in the church, say, because that is sufficient after a couple years to make you legally married in the law. You'd have to deny you are married at every public occasion when you are asked. Not many women would put up with that, because women are emotionally attached to marriage much more than men are.
According to the homosexual mafia being pandered to by the Usurper and his lapdog media, they have the "right" to the tax benefit of a "marriage" that provides no benefit to society (it does not propagate the citizenry), and also may hurt the adopted children of these gay "married" male couples.
No one knows the long term affects of growing up with 2 daddies, but we are supposedly willing to experiment with that, since giving homosexuals the "right" to marriage will also give them the "right" to adopt.
Unintended consequences are a bitch.
The exploitation and bastardization of the 14th Amendment continues.
There is no "right" to marriage. That 2 homos want to play house doesn't make it a "right".
And I really hate that a wife who sits at home can get a huge portion of my military retirement. She wasn't getting shot at, rocketed and mortared. She didn't have to crawl through mud or go weeks at a time without bathing. But Congress and the Supreme Court have said that no matter how worthless she might have been at home, she gets half the retirement for the periods of the marriage. That ain't right.
Getting married for tax reasons is legal (at least if there is a real relationship) but getting divorced s not.
Refraining from getting married solely for tax reasons is not considered any form of tax evasion.
Skyler,
You must have met your fair share of that subset of military spouse known as the Dependapotamus.
Well, I used to pay a lot more, but now, my penalty is only about 3K per year, which is worth it. I think marriage is a fine thing that is best entered into with eyes open and a deep determination to make it work. It is still the best way to raise kids.
Income taxes have no effect only if you have a flat tax.
This continues to confuse a state marriage with a religious marriage.
The former being the first industry of every state. i.e., get them married with our certificate, and wait for them to enter our divorce hell.
You won't have to wait long. If we run out of idiots, we can always start marrying the queers.
My family ends up being in the very dark blue. It doesn't pay for one of us to work.
There are only two good reasons to marry: taxes and immigration. A man of 20 can marry a Colombian woman, divorce her at 30, marry a Costa Rican at 31, divorce her at 41, marry a Mexican at 42, divorce her at 52, marry a Filipina at 53, divorce her at 63, then finally marry a Brazilian woman and retire at 67. Every woman married to him for 10 years and his current wife will be entitled to Social Security based on his earnings when she retires at 62 or later. Their minor children and those in college will also share in the Socialist pie. She will also be on a fast track for immigration, and their kids will be citizens.
Mormons can use this socialist policy to even greater effect by being married to only one woman at a time while breeding with several others who will all qualify for socialist kiddie benefits like CHIP, foodstamps and the like.
Those young women will be so grateful to gain a Green Card and share in the SS wealth transfer from others that they'll do almost anything for the guy. There is no excuse for marrying an Amerikan woman at all.
Mormons can use this socialist policy to even greater effect by being married to only one woman at a time while breeding with several others, all of whom will qualify for socialist kiddie benefits like CHIP, foodstamps and the like. The women who are related to him, like his brothers' wives, can be claimed as his dependents for a tax exemption.
Anyone who marries for sex, companionship or love is a shortsighted fool.
An Income tax with deductions, is like a pencil without lead.
Sooner or later you're going to have a huge national debt, and when the crops fail, and they will fail, everyone can eat their dogs.
Skyler, who is a family lawyer, is wrong about common law marriage in Texas.
The three criteria usually cited for a common law marriage to be recognized are:
(1) Agree to be married
(2) Live together as husband and wife, and
(3) Told others (hold yourselves out) that you are married.
How many years you spend together has nothing to do with the price of cheese.
What's not stated is that no common-law marriage is valid if one of the partners is legally married (common-law or statutory) to another person.
Furthermore, both of the partners have to be 18 or over to be common-law married.
My advice to a Texas man. Cohabit with a series of 17-yr-olds, leaving each one before she turns 18. If you want kids, cohabit with a sister or cousin that has one, and if you have to marry, marry a woman who has a kid. There's no shortage out there. That way, you'll not be subject to child-support and ultimately reliance on a family lawyer who doesn't know the law.
Another smart move for cohabiting singles is to make known your intent to be married 1 minute before the death of either, in order to enjoy the significant tax advantages of spousal inheritance rules.
Speaking of doing the tax math, see if your mortgage interest deduction is wothwhile. I was paying 12k a year in interest in order to save eight hundred dollars in taxes. Had enough in savings to pay it off years ago but wanted to have cash available for un expected emergencies.Spending thirty bucks on tax software was best invetment this fool ever made, tax wise.
FullMoon:
Spending thirty bucks on tax software was best invetment this fool ever made, tax wise.
Somebody should write a tax software package that allowed you to push a button every step of the way to show the alternative tax for other lifestyle choices. While you can't exactly pop out another kid before the end of the tax year, you sure as hell can get married or divorced, and even abort, in order to save taxes.
Well ... call me crazy, but I believe marriage is a holy estate and an honorable estate, instituted by God.
Someone had to say it, might as well be me.
Roughcoat:
call me crazy, but I believe marriage is a holy estate and an honorable estate, instituted by God.
Now that you've stepped up to the plate, please cite chapter and verse of the Bible that shows a model for Modern Amerikan Marriage.
No fair citing Job and his wife, since I've already cited it as the model for Amerikan Marriage several times.
"Skyler, who is a family lawyer, is wrong about common law marriage in Texas."
Yeah, that was sloppy. You have two years to claim a marriage after you separate.
If a proceeding in which a marriage is to be proved is not commenced before the second anniversary of the date on which the parties separated and ceased living together, it is rebuttably presumed that the parties did not enter into an agreement to be married.
Roughcoat said......call me crazy, but I believe marriage is a holy estate...
Yea, well, I bet you have a state license hanging above the bed also.
Which means you gave in to Socialism, when the Capitalists needed your vote for Hoover.
...all in jest...
jimbino & Coupe:
I told you what I believe. The Bible has nothing to do with it: I believe marriage to be a holy and honorable estate independent of what the Bible says or does not say about it. You can believe what you want.
I also believe my border collies in particular and all dogs in general are holy angels sent down from heaven to ease our suffering and increase our happiness and in so doing bring us closer to God. The Bible doesn't say anything about this either. Tough shit, I'm not a Bible Christian. I'm Catholic. A cafeteria Catholic: I believe animals have souls. You work your side of the street, I'll work mine. Believe what you want.
Roghcoat:
You work your side of the street, I'll work mine. Believe what you want.
I wish it were that easy. You mentioned "God" in your first post, which is a code-word for abuse of the rights of atheists, agnostics and humanists, not to mention polytheists, animists and so on.
We thinking non-believers can't let God-believers off the hook; it would be like Jews ignoring Mein Kampf to their ultimate detriment.
I suppose I would relent in war against believers once we get atheist chaplains in the military, prisons and hospitals, a non-Jew, non-Roman Catholic on SCOTUS, or an admitted non-believer as president.
Re: "You mentioned "God" in your first post, which is a code-word for abuse ... it would be like Jews ignoring Mein Kampf to their ultimate detriment."
Clearly, you overdosed on your stupid pills today.
You mentioned "God" in your first post, which is a code-word for abuse of the rights of atheists,
Way to recognize you live in the greatest nation on God's green Earth thanks to those you don't want to let off the hook.
You really should move to and live in an Atheist nation that drives all the believers out.
You'll return with a greater appreciation for us Christians who won't let your imbecilic belief's off the hook.
You can thank us later.
Eric:
You'll return with a greater appreciation for us Christians who won't let your imbecilic belief's off the hook.
You can thank us later.,
I'd personally thank you for killing the apostrophe in 'belief's."
I have traveled and lived in atheist countries like the Czech Republic and Estonia.
On my return to the USSA, I still never learned to appreciate Christianists who keep polluting our world with prayers, moments of silence, creches and 10-commandments monuments on our public lawns.
Deirdre Mundy:
In the future, only gay or intentionally childless couples will come out ahead by being married in the eyes of the law.
Gays can and do have children. We "intentionally childless couples" prefer to be called "child-free" and "tax-exploited."
We've had to pay a pretty severe marriage penalty over the years, since we have the kind of marriage that feminists talk about, but never have, where husband and wife have equal incomes and equal (but different) responsibilities. But now my wife is retired, so the tax savings start, plus there are estate tax savings to being married.
Since legal marriage has become kind of a meaningless joke, if I were doing it again, I would have suggested that we have a religious wedding, but not a legal one. Then we could have gotten legally married this year. I don't know if my wife would have agreed, though.
I have traveled and lived in atheist countries like the Czech Republic and Estonia.
On my return to the USSA,
Odd that you keep returning to a place that subjects you to prayers (Gasp!) moments of silence (The horror!) crèches (Somebody get the fainting salts!) and displays of the 10 commandments!
You poor fellow. The life you must have to endure here, suffering in the United States.
One wonders why you keep coming back when you can so easily travel to and live in those other, more wonderful, countries.
Yo Eric,
One wonders why you keep coming back when you can so easily travel to and live in those other, more wonderful, countries.
I take your advice: I am now living in Rio de Janeiro, a much less religiously oppressive place than the USSA, though not up to the standards of Estonia and the Czech Republic.
Sean:
But now my wife is retired, so the tax savings start, plus there are estate tax savings to being married.
Don't forget to game the SS system by putting the younger retiree on SS to take the spouse share at age 62, only to wait until age 70 to take SS on his/her own account and thus make out like a bandit. Consult your financial advisor.
Brazil, huh?
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/brazilian-atheists-stay-closeted-or-fear-death-threats/
Sounds like a wonderful place to be Atheist.
Eric:
Brazil, huh?
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/06/brazilian-atheists-stay-closeted-or-fear-death-threats/
Sounds like a wonderful place to be Atheist.
Our president, Dilma, is an atheist.
"atheist chaplains"
Self cancelling position.
jimbino: "Our president, Dilma, is an atheist."
That must be a comforting thought while you hang out in your closet.
jimbino: "On my return to the USSA, I still never learned to appreciate Christianists who keep polluting our world with prayers, moments of silence, creches and 10-commandments monuments on our public lawns."
What a courageous position to take. And to think you are probably going to impress us even more when you confront your neighborhood islamists with your "truths"!
Can't wait for the full report.
Be sure to let us know how that goes.
Not sure why Ann is so tickled about the addendum which noted the change from red-green charts to blue-red in order to help the color blind among us.
Wiki tells us: There are two major types of color blindness: those who have difficulty distinguishing between red and green, and [those] who have difficulty distinguishing between blue and yellow.
As a Color-blind American I am pleased that our victim status is being recognized. I hope we are included in the reparations of 2016. We have suffered long enough!
Gadfly, red green is vastly more common.
Bonus! My wife, I think I'll keep her. (Jeeze, we're now as old as the couple in the Geritol commercial.)
Sgt Ted says:
"atheist chaplains"
Self cancelling position.
The times they are a-changin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Epstein
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