124. Marriage penalty eliminated. The value of the expression

4220 + 0.25(x 30,650)
is the 2006 federal income tax for a single taxpayer with
taxable income of x dollars, where x is over $30,650 but
not over $74,200.
a) Simplify the expression.
b) Find the amount of tax for a single taxpayer with
taxable income of $40,000.
c) Who pays more, a married couple with a joint taxable
income of $80,000 or two single taxpayers with
taxable incomes of $40,000 each? See Exercise 123.

To simplify the expression 4220 + 0.25(x - 30,650), we need to perform the calculations within the parentheses and combine like terms.

a) Simplifying the expression:
We distribute the 0.25 across the terms inside the parentheses:
0.25(x - 30,650) = 0.25 * x - 0.25 * 30,650
= 0.25x - 7,662.50
Now, we can simplify the entire expression:
4220 + 0.25x - 7,662.50 = 0.25x - 3,442.50

b) Finding the amount of tax for a single taxpayer with a taxable income of $40,000:
We substitute x = 40,000 into the simplified expression:
0.25x - 3,442.50 = 0.25 * 40,000 - 3,442.50
= 10,000 - 3,442.50
= 6,557.50
Therefore, the amount of tax for a single taxpayer with a taxable income of $40,000 is $6,557.50.

c) Comparing the taxes paid by a married couple and two single taxpayers:
For a married couple with a joint taxable income of $80,000, the expression becomes:
0.25x - 3,442.50 = 0.25 * 80,000 - 3,442.50
= 20,000 - 3,442.50
= 16,557.50
Therefore, the married couple pays $16,557.50 in taxes.

For two single taxpayers with taxable incomes of $40,000 each, we can calculate the total tax for both individuals:
0.25x - 3,442.50 = 2 * (0.25 * 40,000 - 3,442.50)
= 2 * (10,000 - 3,442.50)
= 2 * 6,557.50
= 13,115
Therefore, two single taxpayers with taxable incomes of $40,000 each pay a total of $13,115 in taxes.

Comparing the amounts, we see that the married couple pays more in taxes ($16,557.50) compared to two single taxpayers with taxable incomes of $40,000 each ($13,115).