Related CTJ Publications: Fixing the Marriage Penalty Problem (PDF format only)

The marriage penalty tax cut legislation passed by both houses of Congress this week maintains the most striking characteristic of bills previously passed separately in each house--its benefits are skewed to higher income married couples. "Some details have changed but this legislation is just more of the same," said Michael Ettlinger, Tax Policy Director for Citizens for Tax Justice. A distributional analysis released by the group shows that if the bill's provisions were fully in place, 78 percent of the annual tax cuts would go to the best-off 20 percent of Americans. Over 20 percent of the benefits would go to the wealthiest five percent. The average tax cut for married couples in the top 20 percent would be $914, compared to a $157 tax cut for couples in the remaining 80 percent.

"If the surplus makes hundreds of billions of dollars of tax relief possible, we should give the tax breaks to those who need them the most," said Ettlinger. "Today the majority in Congress has continued its bombardment of the tax code with yet another salvo of tax cuts for the rich."