Steube Introduces Bill to Make Marriage Great Again
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congressman Greg Steube (R-Fla.) introduced H.R. 2604, The Make Marriage Great Again Act, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate the Marriage Tax Penalty and strengthen American families.
“The American family is the backbone of our nation and marriage is a fundamental part of our society that should be incentivized, not deterred, by our tax code,” said Steube following the introduction of the bill. “Ask any married person and they will tell you that the Marriage Tax Penalty is tough—it makes it harder to pay the bills, provide for your family, and save for the future, all because you’re married. This bill would change that.”
In 2017, the most recent tax year for which we have records, over 56 million married individuals filed tax returns. Under the current tax system, married individuals have a separate table within the Internal Revenue Code for calculating their income tax liability whether they are filing jointly or separately. The income thresholds for these tables were arbitrarily decided and have caused some married couples to pay more in taxes than they would have if they were unmarried.
“Since 1986, the Marriage Tax Penalty has been hurting our families and it’s time to fix that. This bill would eliminate the penalty by doubling the income thresholds within the tax code for a single person so that no married couple will have to pay more in taxes than they would have were they single,” explained Steube. “This will strengthen our nation by incentivizing the stability of marriage and giving married Americans the ability to financially thrive for generations to come.”
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