Now if the Democrats would just wake up to the fact that our elderly are now being cheated by failure to update the law which is now requiring lower middle income retired to pay taxes on their Social Security benefit. This is kind of like the Alternative Minimum Tax issue which became such a problem because their was no inflation update in the figures they used.
What is happening with SS is that in 1983 when both parties agreed to tax SS of upper middle income recipients they developed a page long calculation sheet to determine if indeed one owed tax money on the SS money received each year. That page included a $25,000 deduction for single people, and a $32,000 deduction for couples. Now, 36 YEARS LATER, it is still $25 and $32K and is taking money from a much less affluent population. It is keeping me from marrying the wonderful man I have met since my husband died. As two singles we have a total deduction of $50,000. If we marry we only have $32,000. Thus at the 20% tax rate, we would have to pay $3,600 more in taxes. You can buy a lot of food and medicine for that amount. Thank you Congress for keeping us living in sin, instead of making the appropriate inflation adjustment after 36 year.
” It is keeping me from marrying the wonderful man I have met since my husband died.”
Marry in a church/synagogue/temple without a state marriage license.
Let the government perform “Civil Unions” At this point, no church ANYWHERE should perform a “legal” wedding in the state’s eyes.
Marriage is a contract between a man a woman and God. The stat should have place in the room.
No Christian couple should get a marriage license from the state. Marriage is a religious sacrament regardless of whether you are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist. Take back that sacrament from the state. refuse to get a marriage license. Reclaim marriage.
States marrying people really only dates from the 1700’s.
Perhaps you can move to a state with a common-law marriage statute, if the IRS does not consider that wrinkle in their tax code. Be effectively married — whether in the eyes of God, I have no idea — but still get the $50K a year write-off.