ObamaCare marriage penalty

Someone in the White House thinks marriage is a bad idea, says the Fiscal Times.

– Earlier this year, the Fiscal Times showed that a high-earning couple, each with incomes of $400,000, would save about $27,000 annually if they divorced and filed their taxes separately.

– A similar fate may await middle income earners.

– A typical 40-year-old couple with two kids could save $7,230 a year by divorcing if one partner earns, say, $70,000 and the other $23,000.

– Sixty year-olds earning $62,041 each a year would save $11,028 annually if they broke up.

This is because of the “wedding tax.” ObamaCare is designed to provide health care benefits that are substantially more generous for lower-income persons. The bill’s anti-marriage penalties occur because of the income counting and benefit structure rules of the bill. If a two-earner couple is married, the bill counts their income jointly; since the joint income will be higher, a married couple’s health care subsidies would be lower.

Clearly, many couples who are considering marriage, especially after several years of seeing formerly married couples regress to cohabiting, will look at ObamaCare’s “wedding tax” and say, “Never mind.” The effect on society will be incalculable, and certainly not for the good.

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