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This bill would change federal income tax rate brackets so married couples filing taxes would not be penalized just for being married. In simple terms, it would adjust the tax bracket amounts so that, starting after 2024, married taxpayers would generally be treated more like two single taxpayers whose bracket limits are doubled. The goal is to remove the “marriage penalty” in the income tax system and make the tax rules more even for married couples.
- The change would apply to tax years starting after December 31, 2024.
- It would replace the usual bracket tables for married taxpayers with bracket amounts based on doubling the amounts used in the single taxpayer tables.
- It would also remove certain existing wording and rules in the tax code that help create different treatment for married and unmarried taxpayers.
Official Summaries
Make Marriage Great Again Act of 2025
This bill modifies the federal income tax rate brackets for married individuals filing joint federal income tax returns so that they are twice the amount of the federal income tax rate brackets for unmarried individuals filing federal income tax returns (thus eliminating the tax effect commonly known as the marriage penalty). Further, the bill eliminates the federal income tax rate brackets for married individuals filing separate federal income tax returns for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. (An income tax rate bracket is a range of income that is taxed at a specific percentage to determine an individual’s income tax liability.)
Thus, under the bill, the federal income tax rate bracket amounts that apply to a married individual are either (1) the individual federal income tax rate bracket amounts if such individual files an individual federal income tax return, or (2) twice such amounts if the individual files a joint federal income tax return with their spouse.
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 320 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 320
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate the marriage
penalty in the income tax rate brackets.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 9, 2025
Mr. Steube introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to eliminate the marriage
penalty in the income tax rate brackets.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Make Marriage Great Again Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF MARRIAGE PENALTY IN INCOME TAX RATE BRACKETS.
(a) In General.--Section 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(k) Elimination of Marriage Penalty.--In the case of any taxable
year beginning after December 31, 2024--
``(1) in lieu of the table which would otherwise apply
under subsection (a) or (j)(2)(A) for such taxable year, the
table which applies under subsection (c) or (j)(2)(C),
respectively, shall apply determined by substituting for each
dollar amount contained therein a dollar amount which is twice
such dollar amount (as otherwise in effect for such taxable
year),
``(2) subsection (c) shall be applied without regard to the
phrase `who is not a married individual (as defined in section
7703)', and
``(3) subsections (d) and (j)(2)(D) shall not apply.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply
to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.
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