RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE MARRIAGE TAX

We use a sample of actual tax returns to compute estimates of the marriage tax by income class under the new tax law. We predict that in 1994, 52 percent of American couples will pay an average marriage tax of about $1,244, and 38 percent will receive an average subsidy of about $1,399. These aggregate figures mask a considerable amount of dispersion in the population. Under the new law, the marriage tax for certain low-income families can exceed $3,000 annually; for certain very-high-income families it can exceed $10,000 annually.