Читать книгу J.K. Lasser's 1001 Deductions and Tax Breaks 2022 - Barbara Weltman - Страница 16

Whether you are married or single has a significant impact on your taxes. In some cases, being married results in a “marriage bonus,” which means effectively averaging taxes when one spouse works and the other does not. In other cases, being married results in a “marriage penalty,” which means that two working spouses earning about the same likely will pay higher total tax than if they were single. For some tax rules, a married couple has the identical tax break as a single individual, such as the $3,000 capital loss deduction against ordinary income and the $10,000 limit on itemizing state and local taxes, which is a distinct disadvantage for those who are married. For some tax rules, a married couple has double the tax break for singles, such as the ordinary loss deduction for so‐called Section 1244 stock, so marital status makes no difference here.

Technically, there are a number of filing statuses that determine eligibility for various tax breaks:

 Married filing jointly

 Married filing separately

 Head of household

 Unmarried (single)

 Qualifying widow(er) with a dependent child. This filing status is also referred to as a surviving spouse.

You need to know which term applies to you. The terms are not further defined here and often cause confusion, so check IRS Publication 501 if you are unsure. Note that under federal tax law, the terms “husband,” “wife,” and “spouse” are gender neutral. The term “husband and wife” means two individuals lawfully married to each other. However, those in a civil union or domestic partnership are not married for federal income tax purposes.