Creating a Conditional Function in Python

Question

I'm trying to create a tax deductions calculation function in python based on a series of conditional statements. I am getting a syntax error on my first conditional "if" statement and am unsure why.

1 = 'single'
2 = 'married filing jointly'
3 = 'head of household'

def deductions(income, filing_category): ## define function

    if ((filing_category = 1) and (income >= 12200)):
        return income - 12200
    elif((filing_category = 2) and (income >= 24400)):
        return income - 24400
    elif((filing_category = 3) and (income >= 18350)):
        return income - 18350
    else:
        return 'no taxes due'

q = deductions(10000, 1) ## call function
print(q) ## print result

If anyone could offer any insight into what syntactical errors I may be making, that would be great. I'm a beginner to programming.

Have you hear about == before? You have to use that inside if to check equality. Further, 1 = 'single' can't be a valid syntax in any language — Austin
– Austin, Commented Feb 10, 2020 at 3:23

jkr · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-10 03:26:08Z

3

Replace filing_category = 1 with filing_category == 1. Do this for other instances of = in your if statements.

The single = is the assignment operator, assigning a value to a variable. The equality operator, which tests if two things are equal, is ==. Refer to the python documentation on operators for more information.

edited Feb 10, 2020 at 3:26

answered Feb 10, 2020 at 3:22

jkr

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