Abolish the Tax Code, Not Joint Tax Returns

Evan Johnson’s recommendation that we abolish joint tax returns [“The ‘Marriage Penalty’ and Tax Simplification,” Letters, June 24] is a cure worse than the disease.

Sure, that would be fairer to single people, but what about single-income households? After all, one individual who earns any given amount will pay more tax than two individuals who each earn half that amount. Thus, if Mr. Johnson’s proposal were enacted, a family with a single member earning $100,000 a year would pay a lot more tax than their next-door neighbors who earn $50,000 each. Where is the justice in that?

The reality is that as long as we tax some income at a higher rate than other income, tax fairness is a mathematical impossibility. We can either be fair to single-income families, or we can be fair to singles versus couples. Or we can get rid of this “progressive” tax code and do both.

Jeff Bishop

Culver City