Marriage penalty


Marriage penalty

A tax that has the effect of penalizing a married couple because they pay more tax on a joint tax return than they would if they file tax returns individually.

Marriage Penalty

The higher tax rate that some married couples pay when they file jointly for their income taxes. Married couples filing jointly have different tax brackets than single persons; this can work to the advantage of couples with highly disparate income and single income households; however, it can work to the disadvantage of couples with roughly the same income. One refers to this as the marriage penalty. Some married couples file as single person to avoid the marriage penalty.