After getting married in May of 2010, this will be my first year filing my income taxes as anything other than single.
In an effort to reduce my tax burden, I evaluated the options of both Married filing Jointly, and Married filing seperately.
Every where I read, from FreeTaxUSA.com to turbotax.com , the repeated message is that it is rarely in your best interests to file separately.
If you live in Ohio - rethink this.
You can find the tax tables for 2004-2012 here.
For 2010
| Ohio Taxable Income | Tax Calculation |
|---|---|
| 0 – $5,050 | 0.618% of Ohio taxable income |
| $5,050 – $10,100 | $31.21 + 1.236% of excess of $5,050 |
| $10,100 – $15,150 | $93.63 + 2.473% of excess over $10,100 |
| $15,150 – $20,200 | $218.52 + 3.091% of excess over $15,150 |
| $20,200 – $40,350 | $374.62 + 3.708% of excess over $20,200 |
| $40,350 – $80,700 | $1,121.78 + 4.327% of excess over $40,350 |
| $80,700 – $100,900 | $2,867.72 + 4.945% of excess over $80,700 |
| $100,900 – $201,800 | $3,866.61 + 5.741% of excess over $100,900 |
| More than $201,800 | $9,659.28 + 6.24% of excess over $201,800 |
Doing these calculations for a combined income of 80k, 100k, and 160k shows that it is clearly a marriage penalty in Ohio to file Jointly:
| MiddleClass , similar salaries | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income | Base Tax | % | Liability | ||||
| Indiv. A | 40000 | 1121.78 | 0.04327 | 1106.6355 | |||
| Indiv. B | 40000 | 1121.78 | 0.04327 | 1106.6355 | |||
| Couple AB | 80000 | 3866.61 | 0.05741 | 2666.741 | <-joint liability | 453.47 | <- Extra cost of filing jointly |
| Upper Middle Class, similar salaries | |||||||
| Income | Base Tax | % | Liability | ||||
| Indiv. C | 80000 | 1121.78 | 0.04327 | 2837.4355 | |||
| Indiv. D | 80000 | 1121.78 | 0.04327 | 2837.4355 | |||
| Couple CD | 160000 | 3866.61 | 0.05741 | 7259.541 | <-joint liability | 1584.67 | <- Extra cost of filing jointly |
| One spouse making much more than the other | |||||||
| Income | Base Tax | % | Liability | ||||
| Indiv. E | 80000 | 1121.78 | 0.04327 | 2837.4355 | |||
| Indiv. F | 20000 | 218.52 | 0.0391 | 408.155 | |||
| Couple EF | 100000 | 3866.61 | 0.05741 | 3814.941 | <-joint liability | 569.3505 | <- Extra cost of filing jointly |
