PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jan 9, 2025
Make Marriage Great Again Act of 2025
This bill modifies the federal income tax rate brackets for married individuals filing joint federal income tax returns so that they are twice the amount of the federal income tax rate brackets for unmarried individuals filing federal income tax returns (thus eliminating the tax effect commonly known as the marriage penalty). Further, the bill eliminates the federal income tax rate brackets for married individuals filing separate federal income tax returns for tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. (An income tax rate bracket is a range of income that is taxed at a specific percentage to determine an individual’s income tax liability.)
Thus, under the bill, the federal income tax rate bracket amounts that apply to a married individual are either (1) the individual federal income tax rate bracket amounts if such individual files an individual federal income tax return, or (2) twice such amounts if the individual files a joint federal income tax return with their spouse.
People & committees
Rep. Steube, W. Gregory [R-FL-17] · R–FL
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.320 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.320 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.320 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.320 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.
PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-01-09 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Make Marriage Great Again Act of 2025 would change federal income-tax brackets—the income ranges used to apply different tax rates—for married people. It would replace specified tax tables using doubled dollar amounts and remove a restriction on married individuals. The supplied text does not establish how much any household’s taxes would change.
This Act may be cited as the Make Marriage Great Again Act of 2025.
(1) in lieu of the table which would otherwise apply under subsection (a) or (j)(2)(A) for such taxable year, the table which applies under subsection (c) or (j)(2)(C), respectively, shall apply determined by substituting for each dollar amount contained therein a dollar amount which is twice such dollar amount (as otherwise in effect for such taxable year), (2) subsection (c) shall be applied without regard to the phrase who is not a married individual (as defined in section 7703)
The bill would add a new subsection to section 1 of the federal tax code. It would replace the tables otherwise applicable under subsections (a) and (j)(2)(A) with those under subsections (c) and (j)(2)(C), respectively, doubling every dollar amount otherwise in effect in those replacement tables for the relevant tax year. This changes dollar amounts, not stated percentage tax rates.
Section 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
(1) in lieu of the table which would otherwise apply under subsection (a) or (j)(2)(A) for such taxable year, the table which applies under subsection (c) or (j)(2)(C), respectively, shall apply determined by substituting for each dollar amount contained therein a dollar amount which is twice such dollar amount (as otherwise in effect for such taxable year)
The bill would require subsection (c) to operate without its quoted restriction excluding married individuals. The referenced definition of a married individual is not reproduced in the bundle.
(2) subsection (c) shall be applied without regard to the phrase who is not a married individual (as defined in section 7703)
The bill would make subsections (d) and (j)(2)(D) inapplicable. Their contents are not reproduced, so the supplied text alone does not fully explain the consequences of that change.
(3) subsections (d) and (j)(2)(D) shall not apply.
The proposed amendment would apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2024.
(b) Effective date The amendment made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated August 12, 2025, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Ways and Means on January 9, 2025.
Source snapshot updated 2025-08-12T16:45:34Z. 2025-01-09: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. 2025-01-09: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-01-09. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential exception was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. Broad coverage of the population addressed by the main policy does not alone qualify. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Aug 12, 2025. How PlainBill uses AI