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USA: How Tax Season Hurts LGBT Couples

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012

This Tax Season, gay and transgender- headed families are reminded that they are not equal in the eyes of the law. Because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), even in states that have achieved marriage equality, the federal tax code prevents legally married same-sex couples from filing together and qualifying for all of the same benefits of their straight married neighbors.

Last October, CAP coauthored “All Children Matter: How Legal and Social Inequalities Hurt LGBT Families,” a comprehensive report on the state of LGBT families with the Family Equality Council and the Movement Advancement Project. The follow up piece, “Unequal Taxation and Undue Burdens for LGBT Families,” focuses specifically on the income tax inequality faced by LGBT families. Below are the top five ways that marriage inequality hurts gay couples during tax season, according to those reports:

1. LGBT families are denied joint filing status and accompanying tax relief: Since married LGBT families are not legally recognized by federal law, they cannot receive the significant tax advantages of the “Married Filing Jointly” tax status, which means they have less money to meet the financial needs of their family. LGBT families can only file as “Single” or at best, “Head of Household,” even when they are married or in other legally recognized unions and partnerships.

Full Story from Think Progress

Click here for gay wedding resources.

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Tags: gay couples, lesbian couples, marriage equality, tax season

USA: DOMA’s Tax Effects on Military Gay/Lesbian Couples

Monday, April 16th, 2012

For seven years, I have run a tax center for the National Guard. This year we will produce more than 1800 federal and state returns for service members and veterans in our community. I am very proud of this work, and I love working with the clients who walk through the door. But to be honest, every time a same-sex married couple walks in, I cringe.

Filing taxes is a dreadful enough prospect for most Americans, but for Americans who happen to be in a same-sex marriage, it’s a nightmare. While most married couples gather their receipts, W2s, mortgage interest documents, and medical and daycare expenses, same-sex married couples have to hunker down for the added prospect of producing multiple returns and “dummy” returns.

Let me explain.

I am in a same-sex marriage. My wife Casey and I live in Massachusetts, and under state law, we are required to file either “married filing jointly” (most common and usually most advantageous) or “married filing separately” for our state taxes. Those are our only options. For the purposes of federal taxes, however, because of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), my wife and I are legal strangers.

Full Story from The Washington Blade

Click here for gay wedding resources.

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Tags: doma, gay couples, lesbian couples, military

April is a Taxing Time for Gay/Lesbian Couples

Sunday, April 15th, 2012

We all know the old saying– “Nothing is certain in life but death and taxes.” Yet for same-sex couples, tax time is anything but certain.

You may think that the new Illinois civil union law solves all the joint tax filing confusion for gay couples. The law says “persons entering into a civil union with the obligations, responsibilities, protections, and benefits afforded or recognized by the law of Illinois to spouses.” In short, anyone in a civil union gets the same state benefits as someone who is married. It should be simple, right? Wrong.

Proving the problem with separate and unequal relationship recognition like civil unions, the Illinois Department of Revenue posted a rather surprising reading of the civil union act on its webpage back in June, saying that couples in civil unions “may not file joint Illinois returns” and the new law “did not change the Illinois income tax laws” due to the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Full Story from GoPride

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Tags: civil unions, gay couples, Gay Marriage, lesbian couples, marriage equality, taxes

MT, USA: State Supreme Court Hears Domestic Partnership Case

Saturday, April 14th, 2012

The American Civil Liberties Union today appealed a district-court ruling dismissing the same-sex domestic partnership case, Donaldson and Guggenheim v. State of Montana, to the Montana Supreme Court:

“The Montana Constitution guarantees fair and equal treatment to all people, including gay and lesbian couples,” said lead attorney, James Goetz, of the Bozeman, MT, law firm Goetz, Gallik & Baldwin, who is acting as a cooperating attorney.

“This case is about giving loving, committed couples the recognition they deserve and ensuring that all families can thrive in Montana. Domestic partnerships are a way for the Montana Constitution’s guarantees of human dignity and protection for all people to be upheld for same-sex couples.”

Full Story from Towleroad.com

Click here for gay wedding resources in Montana.

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Tags: aclu, domestic partnership, gay couples, montana, supreme court

USA: Tax Tips for Gay/Lesbian Couples

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

Tax season is here and now that multiple states recognize same-sex marriage, tax filing season has become a bit more complicated.

Due to passage in 1996 of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal government does not recognize the newer state laws regarding same-sex marriages or civil unions. Only marriages between a man and a woman are recognized under federal law. This means that a same-sex couple is prohibited from filing as “Married Filing Joint” or “Married Filing Separate” on their federal tax returns.

The IRS makes this exceedingly clear in the Form 1040 instructions which state: “For federal tax purposes, a marriage means only a legal union between a man and a woman as husband and wife and the word ‘spouse’ means a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.”

Full Story from The Washington Blade

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Tags: gay couples, lesbian couples, taxes, united states

Malta: Government to Propose Civil Partnerships for Gay and Lesbian Couples

Wednesday, March 28th, 2012

The Maltese government is set to propose civil partnerships for gay couples. The country’s justice minister is to pilot a cohabitation law, which will propose the regulation of same-sex relationships.

Chris Siad, the justice minister in question, told Malta Today: “The bill on co-habitation will be discussed in Cabinet and within the Parliamentary Group shortly. It will be presented to Parliament soon after.

“The government’s position is that the relationship between gay couples should be regulated by the law regulating cohabitation, including the institute of civil partnerships.”

Full Story from Pink News

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Tags: civil partnerships, gay couples, lesbian couples, malta

White House Says Gay Families Deserve Legal Protections

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

At a press conference this afternoon, White House press secretary Jay Carney responded to a question about First Lady Michelle Obama’s comments at various campaign stops yesterday defending same-sex couples right to “love whomever they choose.” Stopping short of indicating support for marriage equality, Carney explained that her comments referred to the President’s opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act:

CARNEY: She has said this before and has for some time, and that is a reference to the president’s position on the Defense of Marriage Act. The president and first lady firmly believe that gay and lesbian Americans and their families deserve legal protections and the ability to thrive just like any family does. The first lady has said she is proud of his accomplishments, including the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ ensuring hospital visitation rights and calling for the repeal of DOMA and obviously our actions on DOMA. And our decision not to defend DOMA is well known.

Full Story from Think Progress

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Tags: gay couples, legal protections, same sex families, white house

European Parliament Calls on Countries to Protect Inheritance Rights for Gay Couples

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling on member states to ensure gay couples inheritance rights are respect around the EU.

The report adopted by the Parliament says individual countries who do not recognise legal partnerships between gay couples should not be able to deny a gay widow or widower the rights they have to their late spouse’s estate under the law of their home country.

It said a state “should not be able to apply the public-policy exception in order to set aside the law of another State or to refuse to recognise, or, as the case may be, accept, or enforce a decision, an authentic instrument, or a court settlement from another Member State when doing so would be contrary to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and in particular Article 21, which prohibits all forms of discrimination.”

Full Story from Pink News

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Tags: european parliament, gay couples, inheritance rights, lesbian couples

Taxes Fraught With Trouble for Newly Married Gay and Lesbian Couples

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

Newlyweds Ruth Berman and Connie Kurtz are gearing up to file their first tax return as a married couple.

Typically, couples grapple with the financial pros and cons of filing separately or jointly. Though either way, they tell the IRS they are married.

However, for Ruth and Connie, prominent gay activists who were married last summer in New York after the state approved gay marriage, income taxes are far more fraught. The U.S. government does not recognize their marriage. By law they must file their federal income tax returns individually.

Full Story from the Huffington Post

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Tags: gay couples, irs, lesbian couples, marriage equality, taxes

Profile: Couples in the Original Maryland Marriage Equality Lawsuit

Friday, March 9th, 2012

Kolasar/Wojahan - Photo by Michael Key, Washington Blade

There’s no questioning Charles Blackburn’s love for partner Glen Dehn: He met the now-retired government worker at a party, moved in immediately and is still with him 33 years later. Yet the pair has never walked down the aisle — not because the men didn’t want to, but because the state of Maryland said they couldn’t.

“We could never understand how a committed relationship of two gays or two lesbians could possibly hurt a heterosexual marriage and we haven’t been told yet,” says Blackburn, who, urged by a friend, signed the couple up to join a 2004 lawsuit for same-sex marriage in Maryland.

Years later, the Blackburn-Dehn couple is among 19 original plaintiffs rejoicing in the wake of a newly signed measure legalizing gay marriages in Maryland. Gov. Martin O’Malley signed the bill into law on March 1; Maryland joins D.C. and six states in legalizing gay marriages. The Civil Marriage Protection Act is scheduled to take effect in January, though a voter referendum in November could kill the measure before then.

Full Story from the Washington Blade

Click here for gay wedding resources in Maryland.

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Tags: gay couples, lesbian couples, marriage equality, maryland, profile