Examples include the student loan interest deduction cap, the limit on capital loss deductions, and higher earned income tax credit limits for unmarried parents.
Koa said:
Examples include the student loan interest deduction cap, the limit on capital loss deductions, and higher earned income tax credit limits for unmarried parents.
Did you mean capital losses, not capital gains?
The standard deduction for couples is $29,400. If SALT was per person, it’d be $20k, leaving $9,400 for other deductions. If you didn’t itemize while single, it shouldn’t matter much when married. Is that right, or does it hurt you either way?
Taxable social security benefits can be another issue.
SALT doesn’t really penalize married couples unless both need to itemize deductions to benefit. If neither itemized while single, it wouldn’t make a difference after marriage.
Asher said:
SALT doesn’t really penalize married couples unless both need to itemize deductions to benefit. If neither itemized while single, it wouldn’t make a difference after marriage.
Not true. Singles get $10k each, while married couples share $10k. That’s a penalty unless both have other deductions to make itemizing worth it.
If one spouse earns a lot and the other earns little, the lower income could push the higher earner into a higher bracket. This happened to us.
Sayer said:
If one spouse earns a lot and the other earns little, the lower income could push the higher earner into a higher bracket. This happened to us.
You’d usually still pay less overall when filing jointly, unless both incomes are very high. The lower earner’s income helps expand the brackets and standard deduction.
Sayer said:
If one spouse earns a lot and the other earns little, the lower income could push the higher earner into a higher bracket. This happened to us.
I think you might be misunderstanding how it works or leaving something out.