Quote:
Originally posted by kane
but if you are like most people and only use the standard deduction there can be a tax advatage for marrige.
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Kane, you're talking about "married filing jointly". Standard deduction vs. itemized decuctions wasn't the point of my post. But since you brought it up -- there is no tax advantage for someone who's married if they file separately. This includes for standard deduction. In 2003 the standard deduction was the same whether you were single or "married filing sperately" -- $4,750. Married filing jointly gets a $9,500 deduction, which would only be an advantage if one spouse doesn't work and they didn't own a house (or have any other driving force to encourage itemizing with a schedule A form).
Anyway, as I stated in my original post, the tax disadvantage is when filing separately. There is no point debating who gets what deductions because the numbers I stated are for taxes due AFTER all deductions.