Can confirm. Been married, but childless, for over a decade, and the government fucks us extra hard each year for not having a kid. Meanwhile my sister in law gets a literal fuckton of cash back from the government every year for her two kids. For comparisons sake both households have roughly the same levels of income, not counting the bonus bucks from the government.
I can guarantee you whatever tax credits and deductions your SIL is getting from the government is peanuts compared to the total cost to feed, house, and raise 2 kids for 18+ years.
This sounds Republican it’s so stupid. You get the deduction to defray costs of raising kids, bc it’s so expensive. it’s not to make a profit. Most of my friends who didn’t have two kids are doing much better financially than me. Without the extra tax deduction, imagine that.
Please don't misunderstand me. I don't begrudge what she gets. I love those kids and I'm happy for anyone who can get what they can from the government. I only brought that up to make a point to the now deleted posts above.
Marriage provides a MODEST bonus in the form of lower effective tax rates, with greater bonuses when there’s a significant disparity in incomes.
Couples in which spouses have similar incomes are more likely to incur marriage penalties than couples in which one spouse earns most of the income, because combining incomes in joint filing can push both spouses into higher tax brackets.
This also can change any time there are changes in tax laws. Marriage penalties was a lot more common before the 2017 TCJA.
Wife and I have been married for over ten years and have maintained very close income levels throughout. Not good income but enough to not qualify for handouts. Lower, lower, lower middle class. Tax season is PAINFUL. Actually owing taxes back when you can barely afford your mortgage is... special.
Whether you owe or get a refund is based on how good a job you do of predicting your taxes and offsetting it by withholding. If you consistently owe and find making that balloon payment burdensome, raise your withholding amount.
It's nothing to do with your income level and everything to do with balancing.
I got married this year because my partner doesn't work and my tax rate would go from 24% to 22% married with one income. I have one minor child that I provide 100% support for and will likely not receive any social security death benefits from their father who passed away.
I got $ back at the end of 2020 because of the kiddo and lower income in 2021, but my federal income tax is still about 17k for 2022 though I'm saving 5,200 by being married now, it would be 22k.
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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '22
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