Marriage penalty

The marriage penalty in the United States refers to the higher tax rate applicable to the lower-earning spouse when a married couple files jointly, as compared to if the spouses each filed his or her tax return using “single” status. There is also a marriage bonus that applies in other cases if the couple jointly is taxed at a lower effective tax rate than if they each filed using single status. Multiple factors are involved, but in general, in the current U.S. system, single-income married couples usually benefit from filing as a married couple (similar to so-called income splitting), while dual-income married couples are often penalized. The percentage of couples affected has varied over the years, depending on shifts in tax rates.