MP Suggests Joint Tax Filing for Married Couples: “One Family, But Tax Treats Them Differently” [Read Order]

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha has proposed a big change in India’s income tax system, saying that married couples should be allowed to file joint incometax returns on optional basis.

Speaking in Rajya Sabha, Chadha said the current system treats husband and wife as separate individuals, even though they live in same house and share expenses. He said this creates unfair tax difference between families having same total income.

To explain this, Chadha gave two examples:

• Family A: Both husband and wife earn ₹10 lakh each. Total income is ₹20 lakh and they pay almost zero tax because both get separate tax benefits.
• Family B: One spouse earns ₹20 lakh and the other stays at home to take care of children. Even with same total income, this family pays around ₹1.92 lakh tax.

He said, “One roof, one kitchen, one household budget, but at tax time the family disappears.”

Chadha suggested that if couples are allowed to file jointly, this gap can be reduced and single-income families will get relief. He also said this system should be optional and not compulsory.

This proposal was part of his speech titled “I Do Not Oppose, I Rise to Propose.” In the speech, he also talked about other issues faced by common people, including:

Joint tax filing for married couples

• Full tax-free disability pension for injured soldiers
• Removing bank penalties for not maintaining minimum balance

Joint tax filing is already used in countries like United States, Germany and France. It was also earlier recommended by Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

The idea got mixed reactions. Many people supported it and said it is fair for middle class families. But some experts said it may discourage people especially women, from working and can make tax system more complex.

The government has not given any response yet but the proposal has started discussion on whether India should treat families as one unit for tax instead of separate individuals.

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