Married taxpayers get some temporary tax relief
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Some filers tried to beat the penalty by each sending in a return claiming married filing separately status. But this didn't help much, because the standard deduction for a spouse filing separately was not the same as a single filer; rather it was half the joint deduction, which was less than what singles were allowed.

Plus, the tax system is further designed to encourage joint filing, so some credits and other tax options aren't allowed to couples who file separately. The reason: Joint filing makes the IRS's job easier by giving them fewer returns to have to enter into the system and check for errors.

"When you have two returns instead of one, if the deductions are divided wrong then you have twice the work on examinations that could be spent elsewhere," says Dr. Larry Garrison, a Certified Public Accountant and tax professor at the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Political agreement reached
A major marriage-tax hurdle was overcome in 2003 when, as part of the third largest tax-cut in U.S. history, Congress agreed to double the standard tax deduction for joint filers so that it's now twice that allowed a single taxpayer. Plus, the changes widened the 15 percent tax bracket for joint filers so that the amount of a couple's income that falls in the 15 percent bracket is now double that percentage's income range of a single filer.

In essence, the changes mean a couple's joint income is taxed the same as if they each were filing as single taxpayers. They still face a bit of penalty when they move into higher tax brackets, but the marriage penalty changes have helped many couples who in prior tax years would have paid more than their just-dating friends.

Many private sector tax analysts found the approach easy, effective and equitable. The only problem? The same one that still exists. When first passed in 2003, the change was temporary and designed to give, then take away, the relief over several years. But in late 2004, Congress decided to tinker with the marriage penalty again and continued the accelerated standard deduction and tax bracket relief through 2010.

"Doubling the standard deduction is simple and makes tax filing easier for even more people," according to Brenda Schafer, a tax research and training specialist for H&R Block in Kansas City. "Six million taxpayers would no longer have to itemize because they would be covered under the standard deduction."

Take advantage while you can
While politicians have loudly proclaimed the end of the marriage tax penalty, take advantage of the break while you can.

And don't forge about that pesky problem of the relief ending altogether in 2011.

Veteran tax observers are not surprised by the political, tax and budget machinations that have surrounded this latest attempt at marriage tax relief.

"I don't think the penalty will ever be entirely ended because nobody wants to end the bonus," says Schafer.

Plus, notes Garrison, when prior efforts to eliminate the penalty started cutting into the marriage bonus constituency, Congress got the message and backed off. Remember, the marriage penalty came into being because single taxpayers in the '60s complained the loudest then about tax inequities.