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The Statehouse News Bureau provides educational, comprehensive coverage of legislation, elections, issues and other activities surrounding the Statehouse to Ohio's public radio and television stations.

Lawmakers Join Together To Propose Bill To End So-Called "Marriage Penalty" For Married Taxpayers

Rep. David Leland (D-Columbus) and Rep. John Becker (R-Cincinnati) are jointly proposing the bill.

Ohio tax law still has a “marriage penalty” – when married couples file jointly and pay more in state income taxes than they paid separately when they were single. And the issue has resulted in a union of an unlikely pair of sponsors.“Our tax code encourages people to shack up rather than be married and that’s just plain wrong," said conservative Rep. John Becker (R-Cincinnati). He's vowing to giving married couples the option of filing state income taxes separately.He and Rep. David Leland (D-Columbus) have joined together to sponsor the bill. Leland admitted they don’t agree on much, but on this issue they do: “This is a tax cut that working families, 2.5 million working families in the state of Ohio would benefit from.”If it passes, the state could lose $500 million a year. But the representatives say they hope to find a loophole, credit or exemption that could be eliminated to pay for this proposal. Copyright 2017 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

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