What is the difference in the US tax code between married and unmarried individuals and couples?

I realize the answer to this question may be more difficult and complicated that is permissible in this format. But I have often heard of ';marriage benefits'; in the tax code, exactly what might people be speaking of? Lets assume that the couple has no children. To get more specific, how will the tax code treat two people that each make 50,000 dollars a year differently if they are married (thus, joint income becomes 100,000 dollars a year). Is it better to get married, under US federal tax laws?





Thanks!What is the difference in the US tax code between married and unmarried individuals and couples?
if you have no kids and 2 incomes, the IRS eats your money. If you have one income and no kids, the IRS eats your money at a slower rate...





people who have kids get more (or at least some) of their money back.What is the difference in the US tax code between married and unmarried individuals and couples?
At $50k per year each there would be little if any difference in total tax between two single persons and a married couple filing jointly.





A single person earning $100k per year who married a person with $0 income would see their tax bill drop dramatically, by nearly 50%.





Most of the tax benefits skew towards single parents making between about $15k and $30k each. If such as couple, each with one or two children, were to marry their total tax bill would rise significantly. The worst hit would be two single parents each with 3 children and about $20k in income each. They'd stand to lose as much as $10,000 per year in tax benefits if they married.
Get a copy of the tax rate tables. Look up the taxes owed for single vs married. All of your questions will be answered.