Getting Divorced/Stay Single For Tax Benefits. (economic, financial, Illinois)

[Sunbiz1]

Why is it that couples are going through this nonsense?.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/th...wsviewer_click

Full article:

A devastating new critique in the Washington University Law Review has spelled out how federal law punishes older couples for being married.
It’s not just that if you meet and fall in love during your golden years you may be much better off staying unwed than tying the knot; it’s that under current federal law if you and your long-term spouse make it into your 60s you might well be able to help your struggling finances by divorcing.
These are the implications of “Preferencing Nonmarriage In Later Years,” by law professor Richard Kaplan, the Guy Raymond Jones Chair in Law at the University of Illinois.
Moderator cut: copyright violation

[Adhom]

I couldn't read that article because it's behind a paywall. But there is a marriage tax penalty that basically breaks down like this: If you are married in a household with 2 incomes with both earners making about the same, you will pay more taxes than 1 earner making twice as much. Yes, the IRS needs to fix that.

[Sunbiz1]

Originally Posted by Adhom

I couldn't read that article because it's behind a paywall. But there is a marriage tax penalty that basically breaks down like this: If you are married in a household with 2 incomes with both earners making about the same, you will pay more taxes than 1 earner making twice as much. Yes, the IRS needs to fix that.

Sorry, have copied entire text.
My parents got divorced over this, only dad was long moved into assisted living.
There has to be some reason this oddity remains, I don't see how it could simply be an oversight.

[Thulsa]

This is an interesting topic.
The embedded link isn't paywalled and is somewhat more complete as it also addresses some of the marriage benefits tax-wise such as selling an appreciated house.
https://wustllawreview.org/2022/08/1...n-later-years/

It seems to me that there was a tendency to write some parts of the code to "even out" the situation where there's a large difference between the incomes of the married pair such as the case of the stay-at-home mom.

If/when a moderator sees this thread, it might be deleted due to copying the entire article.
It could be restared with the above link, but better done in the Economics forum which has a more advanced-knowledge population.