By
The Associated Press
Details
of the House Republican bill to cut income taxes for many married couples,
including those who have a ``marriage penalty,'' paying more income taxes than
they would if they were single, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
Total
cost: $182.3 billion over 10 years<
--Adjusts
upward for married couples the bottom 15 percent income tax bracket to make it
double that of single filers by 2008. If it had been in place this year,
couples would have paid a 15 percent rate on their first $52,500 of taxable
income, compared with $43,850 in current law.
--Raises
the standard income tax deduction for married couples who do not itemize to
twice that of single filers beginning in 2001. Using this year's numbers, the
deduction would rise from $7,351 to $8,800.
--Raises
the income cutoff for lower-income couples who claim the earned income tax
credit by $2,000 beginning in 2001.
Impact
on married couples who take standard tax deduction with two children in 2005:
--$20,000
income: $463 less in taxes, or 14.4 percent.
--$30,000
income: $718 less in taxes, or 93.9 percent.
--$50,000
income: $255 less in taxes, or 7.6 percent.
--$75,000
income: $821 less in taxes, or 10.7 percent.
--$100,000
income: $1,107 less in taxes, or 7.6 percent.
--$200,000
income: $1,158 less in taxes, or 2.5 percent.
Democratic
alternatives<
--House
plan costing half as much as the GOP package would have the raised standard
income tax deduction for married couples who do not itemize to double that of
single filers and made changes in the earned income tax credit so it would not
be eroded for the working poor when they make more on the job. But all items
were subject to passage of separate legislation protecting Social Security and
Medicare and paying down the public debt. And the plan proposed no change in
the 15 percent bracket.
--President
Clinton has proposed $45 billion in relief, although his plan would not help
couples who itemize and is focused on those with dual incomes.
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EDITOR'S
NOTE -- For married couples with two children earning $30,000 a year, current
law would give them a tax refund of $765 if they claimed the earned income tax
credit. Under the GOP bill, that same couple would get a refund of $1,483, a
difference of $718, or 93.9 percent. Couples in this group would benefit most
from the GOP proposal because they would be eligible for a greater refund under
the earned income tax credit than they are under current law.
AP-NY-02-10-00 2155EST