Where is same-sex marriage legal?
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Iowa
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
New Hampshire
New York
Rhode Island
Vermont
Washington state
Washington, D.C.
Maggie Lopez and Patt Cianciullo of Sandy Springs have been married in the eyes of the state of Connecticut since 2006.
But for the first time next year, they will be able to check the box on their federal tax return “married filing jointly.”
The Internal Revenue Service announced a policy change Thursday to allow tax benefits to married same-sex couples regardless of where they live, answering one of the unresolved legal questions following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act.
The result is same-sex married couples who live in Georgia, whether they traveled to New York for a weekend to get hitched or moved south from Massachusetts, are considered married by the IRS.
The Supreme Court’s United States v. Windsor decision actually was a tax case, as Edith Windsor of New York wanted a spousal exemption from the federal estate tax after her spouse died.
The question for the federal government after the high court ruled in Windsor’s favor was how to treat married same-sex couples in states such as Georgia, where voters overwhelmingly passed a 2004 state constitutional amendment to establish marriage as between one man and one woman.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew provided the answer Thursday for tax purposes, saying the ruling "assures legally married same-sex couples that they can move freely throughout the country knowing that their federal filing status will not change."
The ruling does not apply to civil unions or registered domestic partnerships. Same-sex married couples also can file amended returns for previous years — in most cases back to 2010 — to seek retroactive refunds.
Questions remain about how this will affect Georgia tax returns, as the state relies on information from federal returns.
“The Georgia Department of Revenue is currently reviewing the Treasury Department decision,” spokesman Nick Genesi said.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Foundation said in a memo Thursday that Georgia is one of 24 states where same-sex marriage is banned and state tax filers are required to reference their federal returns.
The foundation said such states have three options: allow a “dummy” federal return listing filers as single for state purposes but is not sent to the feds, allow filers to divide federal amounts in half for state purposes, or create a new “federal joint return” filing status for people who cannot file jointly at the state level.
Jerry Luquire, president of the Christian Coalition of Georgia, said that the IRS ruling means “the U.S. government simply is not going to honor state law.”
He opposes same-sex marriage on biblical grounds, saying, “The use of the word marriage, I think, is to inflame the passions of those who oppose this ungodly creation.”
Tanya Ditty, director of the Concerned Women for America of Georgia, said the government is in effect imposing the decisions of the 13 states that allow same-sex marriage on the rest of the country.
“The waters are so muddied over this attack on traditional marriage,” Ditty said. “It’s just so convoluted trying to figure out this, that and the other.”
That goes for everyone as federal agencies cope with the Supreme Court ruling. The IRS is perhaps the biggest one, but the Social Security Administration carries a lot of weight in how it defines couples for survivor benefits and other purposes.
“It’s fair to say unfortunately we’re still in a state of uncertainty,” said Beth Littrell, staff attorney at gay rights advocacy organization Lambda Legal. “But these decisions are being made piecemeal.”
It’s another aspect where same-sex couples face more complicated hurdles, said Kathleen Womack, an Atlanta attorney who specializes in domestic partnership law.
“You must have one (accountant) if not more, and an attorney,” Womack said. “The legal and financial services industry continues to be happy with all the extra work. But that’s a burden that doesn’t go to the traditional opposite-sex married couple.”
Lopez and Cianciullo have jumped through those hoops since moving to Georgia in 2008, such as durable power of attorney documents for medical and legal issues that they always carry with them. They relied on domestic partner health care benefits from Home Depot, where Cianciullo works, for Lopez’s breast cancer treatments.
But when Cianciullo would come to pick up Lopez from treatments, she would not be her “spouse,” she would just be her “ride home.”
“They’re just daily reminders that we know and we recognize the marriage, but in a state such as Georgia, that’s just something seemingly far away, that’s not really real here,” Lopez said.
Now it will be real at tax time, at least.
“We’re very thrilled,” Lopez said. “It’s another step for the other people that are still on the fence about whether (same-sex marriage) is a good idea or not, that it’s time to get together with the program.”
About the Author
