Here’s probably the quirkiest part of the selective expiration of the Bush tax cuts that Obama has baked into his budget …
Obama repeatedly promised that individuals earning less than $200,000 — and families earning less than $250,000 wouldn’t see their taxes go up by as much as a dime.
Think about that for a second …
Let’s pretend there’s an unmarried couple (boyfriend and girlfriend, or any other combination) with each individual earning $200,000.
As individuals, if Obama keeps his pledge, they incur no additional income taxes in 2011 when parts of the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, and no additional “payroll taxes” in 2013 when the ObamaCare surcharge goes into effect.
But, if the couple is married and files jointly, they’d have $400,000 of family income and officially be reclassified as “rich people” … uh-oh !
By my count, their marriage penalty would be over $23,000.
Their “base” income taxes would go from $102,285 to $118,340 — an increase in their effective tax rate from just over 25% to 30%.
Plus, they’d be slapped with the 3.8% payroll tax on all income over $200,000. That tacks on another $7.600.
That makes their total income tax bill $125,940 — 23% higher than if they were unmarried and filing as individuals.
Now, that’s a marriage penalty !
The Homa Files 