—except that after he dies, she will have survivor benefits and whatever her own income is. If her income is below $35,000, she's going to be taxed at the lowest rate anyhow, so that's not my primary concern.
I also want to say that I think income splitting for people who are still active is a major obstacle to women re-entering the labour force, because they will be taxed at their husband's tax rate. While that's not as much of a concern for people who are retired....
Don't forget, also, that we give additional tax advantages to the elderly, so they in fact are paying less tax on the same income as younger people, because we expect them to have, for example, more medical expenses and so forth. So that would not be a major concern on my part.