Follow these instructions to find out how much the Marriage Penalty costs you in taxes that you simply would not owe if you and your spouse were not married. Updated for 2000! 1. Calculate Your Taxable Incomes Your taxable income is your gross income minus all deductions, exemptions, and adjustments. For example: Deductions include your charitable contributions. Exemptions reduce your taxable income based on the number of your dependents. Adjustments include IRA contributions. The standard deduction is $4,300 for single filers; $7,200 for married filing jointly. 2. Enter Your Taxable Incomes Only your browser is processing this information. It is not being sent to our server or tracked in any way. $no commas Enter the amount of taxable income from the primary earner:  $ Enter the amount of secondary taxable income:  $ 3. If you and your spouse file as a married couple, you owe an estimated tax of: Form 1040, line 40; Form 1040A, line 25 $ If you and your spouse could file as unmarried single individuals, you owe a combined estimated tax of: $ That is a difference of $ To find out what you can do about this problem, sign up for CWA's Email Alert Network to know when you should write your congressmen about this and other issues: onFocus="if(this.value=='your email'){this.value='';}" onBlur="if(this.value==''){this.value='your email';} "> How the calculator works: (1) This calculator finds the tax liability from the primary income based on the Head of Household filing status (Schedule Z, 1999 Tax Rate Schedule); then calculates the tax liability of the second income based on filing Single (Schedule X). (2) Then it calculates the tax liability of the married couple when both incomes are combined (Schedule Y). (3) Finally, it calculates the difference and tells you how much extra tax the government charges you to be married. The marriage penalty may not apply in every case. It generally affects couples where one spouse's income is close to the same amount as the other's. WARNING: Do not use this page to calculate your taxes. It is only an exercise designed to provide an estimate, not to tell you how much you actually owe. Consult your tax advisor for tax information. Acknowledgment: CWA wishes to thank Dan Pilla for his assistance in developing this exercise. Pilla is an author and tax litigation consultant who has been featured on Beverly LaHaye Today and is Director of the Tax Freedom Institute.

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