Emily Lin (Workplace of Tax Evaluation, U.S. Treasury Division) presents Who’s On (the 1040) First? Determinants and Penalties of Spouses’ Title Order on Joint Returns (with Joel Slemrod (Michigan; Google Scholar), Evelyn Smith (Michigan) & Alexander Yuskavage (Workplace of Tax Evaluation, U.S. Treasury Division)) at Georgetown at present as a part of its Tax Legislation and Public Finance Workshop hosted by Emily Satterthwaite and Dayanand Manoli: 

Married {couples} submitting a joint return put the male identify first 88.1% of the time in tax yr 2020, down from 97.3% in 1996. The person’s identify is extra prone to go first the bigger is the fraction of the couple’s allocable revenue that goes to him, and the older is the couple. Primarily based on state averages, placing the person’s identify first is strongly related to conservative non secular attitudes, religiosity, and a survey-based measure of sexist attitudes. Threat-taking and tax noncompliance are each related to the person’s identify going first.

Conclusion
Married {couples} submitting a joint return within the US should select one of many partner’s names to be listed first on the tax return. The wording that accompanies the Type 1040 and its directions implies, however on no account requires and even suggests, that the identify of the individual doing the couple’s taxes needs to be listed first. The truth that this resolution has completely no impact on tax legal responsibility may lead one to imagine that the identify order resolution is made causally and, maybe, randomly. 

This paper reveals that that is removed from the reality. The male identify goes first within the overwhelming majority of instances—88.1% of the time in tax yr 2020. That determine is noticeably lower than it stood in 1996, when 97.3% of joint returns had the male identify listed first. The decline has been monotonic, and is essentially as a result of newly shaped {couples} submitting collectively usually tend to record the girl’s identify first, and to a lesser extent as a result of married {couples} who change identify order lead to a web improve within the female-first fraction. These will increase are mitigated by the truth that {couples} who cease submitting collectively are extra possible than common to have listed the girl’s identify first.

What we can’t resolve is the extent to which the identify order follows the allocation of tax submitting duty within the household. However we do observe that, holding revenue group and age group fixed, the person’s identify is extra prone to go first the bigger is the fraction of the couple’s allocable revenue earned by him. Provided that a big earlier literature has linked the share of a pair’s revenue acquired to measures of male weight in family choices, evidently identify order may be related to male weight in choices. We additionally observe that, different issues equal, older married {couples} usually tend to put the person’s identify first. Strikingly, these similar associations seem in an evaluation of same-sex joint filers—the partner with extra earnings (and who’s older) is extra prone to be listed because the “main” taxpayer of the couple. Though we’ve got very restricted demographic details about households, we observe that, based mostly on state averages, placing the person’s identify first is strongly related to conservative non secular attitudes and religiosity, and is extremely correlated with a survey-based measure of sexist attitudes.

Though the identify order doesn’t have an effect on tax legal responsibility, it’s related to sure behaviors that some earlier literature has related to gender. Threat-taking and tax noncompliance every are related to the person’s identify going first, in addition to with the share of earnings acquired by the person. However the reverse is true for charitable deductions.

One coverage change price contemplating is to remove the assertion on tax types and directions (and the fact) {that a} change within the identify order from one yr to the following may delay processing of the tax return. Given the gradual change in attitudes concerning male primacy in the USA, the present wording cements into place outmoded habits.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2023/04/lin-presents-whos-on-the-1040-first-determinants-and-consequences-of-spouses-name-order-on-joint-ret.html