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Possibility, Impossibility, and History in the Origins of the Marriage Tax

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  • Berliant, Marcus
  • Rothstein, Paul

Abstract

We examine the marriage tax in a formal setting. We begin with precise statements of the basic normative principles in the literature and proofs of old and new impossibility claims. Along the way we document and resolve important ambiguities in the existing literature. We then characterize the tax systems that are piecewise linear, linear, and proportional in terms of familiar normative principles and a new principle we call local marriage neutrality. Earlier analytical work emphasizes that all tax structures must violate certain principles. Local marriage neutrality permits a more nuanced analysis of the conflicts among tax principles that is more relevant to the study of moderate tax reform. We use these results to give a brief yet comprehensive analysis of the properties of the income tax system at key points in time. The last section uses the same results to offer observations about recently proposed and enacted changes for reducing the marriage tax.

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  • Berliant, Marcus & Rothstein, Paul, 2003. "Possibility, Impossibility, and History in the Origins of the Marriage Tax," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 56(2), pages 303-317, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ntj:journl:v:56:y:2003:i:2:p:303-17
    DOI: 10.17310/ntj.2003.2.01
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    Cited by:

    1. Hector Chade & Gustavo Ventura, 2002. "Taxes and Marriage: A Two-Sided Search Analysis," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 43(3), pages 955-986, August.
    2. Stevenson, Adam, 2012. "The Labor Supply and Tax Revenue Consequences of Federal Same-Sex Marriage Legalization," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 65(4), pages 783-806, December.
    3. repec:tul:wpaper:2306 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. James Alm & J. Sebastian Leguizamon & Susane Leguizamon, 2023. "Race, Ethnicity, and Taxation of the Family: The Many Shades of the Marriage Penalty/Bonus," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(3), pages 525-560.
    5. McCaffery, Edward J. & Baron, Jonathan, 2004. "Framing and taxation: Evaluation of tax policies involving household composition," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 679-705, December.

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