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Morning News

Congress Poised to End 'Marriage Penalty' Tax

Aired July 18, 2000 - 10:00 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Poets will tell you love is priceless, but accountants can show you marriage will cost you. Current tax laws force some husbands and wives to pay more as a couple than they would as individuals. At this hour, the Senate is on the brink of striking down the "marriage penalty," but the honeymoon could be doomed.

CNN's Kate Snow on Capitol Hill with more now live with us.

Hey, Kate.

KATE SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Bill.

Later this morning, the Senate expected to easily pass this measure for tax relief for married couples. Republicans have been pushing a correction to what they call the marriage penalty. That refers to when a married couple pays more as double earners than they would in taxes if they were paying as single people. The Republicans saying that some 25 million married couples are subject to a marriage penalty. They say they pay an average of $1,400 more on their tax bill than they would if they were single.

Democrats and the White House, though, say that not everyone pays that marriage penalty, and that the bill they're considering here on Capitol Hill would help not only the folks that pay a penalty, but the folks that, right now, are actually getting a bonus out of being married. And they say that this bill is too expensive and it's targeted to the richest couples.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENE SPERLING, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: What we're seeing from them is bill after bill adding up to nearly a trillion dollars in which the majority of it is going to upper-income Americans. This was is a little better than most, but, overall, we're seeing a running away from fiscal discipline for tax cuts that generally benefit those over $100,000.

SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON (R), TEXAS: I don't understand who the president is calling rich. If a schoolteacher who makes $30,000 a year marries a policeman who makes $32,000 a year, they pay a marriage penalty of over $1,000 a year. Our bill would eliminate that penalty over the next five years. It would double the standard deduction so that there is no discrimination against anyone who gets married in the standard deduction. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: The bill also adjusts some of the tax brackets for married couples, also lessening the burden in that respect. Republicans, again, expected to pass this bill later on this morning. The president, though, as you said, Bill, the honeymoon may be over, the president expected to veto -- Bill.

HEMMER: Kate, new reports about the budget surplus apparently being much larger than earlier forecast. Is that giving more fuel to the fire here to pass this particular tax cut?

SNOW: It is putting pressure even on Democrats here on Capitol Hill. Democrats who traditionally might have opposed this, some of them are open to the idea of some kind of marriage tax penalty relief. In fact, yesterday, Democrats offered an alternative plan that would have provided a little bit less relief, but some tax relief, and that plan, that alternative, was killed out yesterday -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Kate Snow on Capitol Hill. Kate, thank you.

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