AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Marriage Penalties and Bonuses by Race and Ethnicity: An Application of Race and Ethnicity Imputation
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 114,
May 2024
(pp. 644–48)
Abstract
The Office of Tax Analysis of the Treasury Department imputes race and ethnicity information to its tax model. We apply the imputed information to the calculation of marriage penalties and bonuses for married couples and find differences in the penalty and bonus rates facing married couples of different races and ethnic backgrounds; the differences vary by income. The results show that for couples in higher-income classes, the penalty is more prevalent for Black and Hispanic couples than White couples, and the Black-White differences by income are consistent with the patterns of spousal income splits in the underlying data.Citation
Costello, Rachel, Portia DeFilippes, Robin Fisher, Ben Klemens, and Emily Y. Lin. 2024. "Marriage Penalties and Bonuses by Race and Ethnicity: An Application of Race and Ethnicity Imputation." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 114: 644–48. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20241036Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H24 Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination