Observers say that there is a gender gap when it comes to tax reform and that women have far more to gain from lower taxes than do men.

One reason is the marriage penalty under our current tax system, which makes women rather than men worse off since most households in poverty are headed by women. For example, two unmarried people earning $25,000 each are taxed at a marginal rate of 15%; but when they marry, the government takes their money at a rate of 28%.

Our tax system also penalizes the 61 percent of married women are in the labor force at any given time.

• With a husband's income as the base the wife's additional earnings can quickly push the family into a higher tax bracket.

• A man earning $35,000 per year would be in the 15% tax bracket, and in the 28% tax bracket beginning at $40,100.

• If, as is very likely, his wife earned more than $5,000, her earnings would be taxed at 28%.

Elderly women are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to taxation, because they live longer than men and are a higher percentage of the elderly population. For example

• Since the $125,000 capital gains exemption on the sale of a home is often less than inflationary gains, some elderly women keep living in their homes when they would be better off selling them.

• The 1993 tax increase on Social Security benefits above certain income levels most affected elderly women, who rely more on Social Security than men.

• More women than men are subject to a phase-out of Social Security benefits if they work.

Thus analysts conclude that lower rates and tax simplification would especially benefit women.

Source: Diana Furchtgott-Roth (American Enterprise Institute), "The Gender Gap in Taxation: Women Stand to Gain Most from Reform," IntellectualCapital.Com, December 12, 1996.