Gay Coupl Get Equal Tax Treatment - WSJ

Contents:

• AS LAWS CLASH, GAY PARENTS FD TAX BREAKS
• THE MARRIAGE PENALTY: GAY MARRIAGE AND TAX LAW
• GAY COUPL GET EQUAL TAX TREATMENT

AS LAWS CLASH, GAY PARENTS FD TAX BREAKS

Can Gay Coupl File Jot Tax?

Do the IRS Regnize Gay Marriage? Here are the top tax ems newly-married, or newly-regnized, gay upl need to know. (Massachetts beme the first state to legalize the unns, 2003, after s Supreme Judicial Court led that the state nstutn giv gay and lbian upl the right to marry, acrdg to Pew; weddgs began 2004.

)Gay and lbian upl who legally wed before 2010 would be able to file an amend tax return if Congrs pass the Build Back Better Act wh the provisn is a fair thg to Warnoffdirector of feral tax policy at the Instute on Taxatn and Enomic Policy"This is a fair thg to do, " said Steve Wamhoff, director of feral tax policy at the Instute on Taxatn and Enomic Policy. Gay rabow flag at gay pri para wh blurred participants the backgroundgetty. GLAD, gay and lbian advot and fenrs, had a se the pipele much longer than Wdsor, where they had six or seven platiffs makg var feral claims and plag specifilly that DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act passed 1996, was unnstutnal and should not be applied to the married same-sex upl.

THE MARRIAGE PENALTY: GAY MARRIAGE AND TAX LAW

— -- Few taxpayers look forward to tax season, but the annual obligatn is particularly labor for tens of thoands of same-sex upl who live stat that regnize gay marriage or civil have to put together four tax returns. Chris Gregoire signed legislatn legalizg gay marriage that state, which has no state e tax. Lawmakers Maryland and New Jersey are nsirg gay marriage bills, and a gay marriage referendum is expected to e up for a vote Mae November.

Appeals urt stck down California's ban on gay marriage. Some of her clients had to wa 10 months to get their tax refunds last taxIn addn to drivg up the st of tax preparatn, filg separate tax returns wh the IRS rults a higher tax bill for many same-sex upl, advot for gay marriage and Hernanz, for example, timate that filg separate feral tax returns has st them an addnal $40, 000 tax sce 2001 Bh tax cuts creased the standard ductn for married upl to twice that of sgle filers and creased the e range for the 10% to 15% tax brackets to twice that for dividuals. Siarly, same-sex upl uld be subject to gift tax if they give each other a large amount of money or other surance stsIn addn, gay workers all tax brackets face a tax h when they add a partner to their employer's health surance than 60% of Fortune 500 pani offer domtic partner benefs to their employe.

If Mchell and Cameron of TV’s “Morn Fay” lived the real world, they would be scratchg their heads over the nfg welter of laws faced by fai head by gay upl. But when they s down wh their acuntant, they might be grng bee the nflictg laws n provi gay and lbian parents wh a big break on their e tax. “Sometim same-sex upl wh children have an advantage, ” says Ta Salandra, whose New York Cy acuntg firm, Numeril, specializ tax for gays and lbians.

GAY COUPL GET EQUAL TAX TREATMENT

Feral gay marriage ban plit thgs. However, the law may sometim cut gay fai a few breaks. “Bee gay upl nnot file a jot (feral) return, they are not subject to the ‘marriage penalty, '” Salandra says.

Head of hoehold: Boon for gay parents?