This is what I hate about our tax laws

[Laura PourMeADrink]

A couple - one makes a good chunk of change, the other, extremely modest income.

Combined, the modest income partner pays so much more, as a percentage, than if they
were single.

It almost makes it not worth working.

[padfun]

1. Not really

If they are not married, then they can file individually and the tax is the same as if they are single.
If married, then they file as married and it is a combined income.
If one files as head of household, depending on several things, the low income can be a dependant but there are limitations.

The worse tax rate is almost always if you file single.

[devils chaplain]

2. I hate a lot of things about it, but this is true for us too. n/t

[Sarcastica]

3. "extremely modest", is this a thing? it sounds like "jumbo shrimp".

[Nye Bevan]

5. Well.... for the two of them combined, if they are married, their total tax bill will be much lower

than if they were not married. Yes, the marginal tax on the extra income earned by the lower-earning person is higher than what their tax bill would be as a single person, but this is more than made up for by the lower tax on the higher-earning person's income.

[daredtowork]

6. Single People are discriminated against a lot, too

Especially in social services and other associated poverty bureaucracies. And the idea that this society discourages women from becoming unwed mothers is a real joke considering how every force in society drives poor women to have a child to survive since single adults aren't considered worthy of a survival safety net in-and-of-themselves (especially since the dismantling of "welfare as we know it" in the 1980s). EVERYTHING is "for the children" or "for families". So perhaps there is some moral justice here in that families pay a little more in taxes because you get more at the other end in terms of social services?