House to vote on ending marriage tax penalty

The U-S House today takes up the republican bill that’d do away with the tax on married couples. Iowa Congressman Tom Latham says the so-called marriage tax penalty effects 50-million people nationwide and 600-thousand Iowans. He says it’s unfair to tax people who “do the right thing” by getting married.Latham says married couples are penalized about 14-hundred dollars a year on average. This 182-billion dollar proposal is four times larger than a plan proposed by the White House. Democrats say the bill is loaded with tax breaks for the rich. Latham disagrees, saying that’s “typical rhetoric.” Latham says working couples are unfairly taxed.The tax hits nearly half of all joint filing taxpayers. Even if Congress passes the elimination of the tax, Latham says it would not be effective until taxes that’re due April 15th of 2001 — not this year.