Gay couples all over the U.S. scored a HUGE victory yesterday. The U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS announced they would recognize same-sex married couples in all 50 states if those couples were married in a state where same-sex marriages are legal.
The ruling will apply to all federal tax laws as they relate to marriage – things like income, gifts, estates, child dependency, employee benefits, IRA contributions, and health insurance.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today ruled that same-sex couples, legally married in jurisdictions that recognize their marriages, will be treated as married for federal tax purposes. The ruling applies regardless of whether the couple lives in a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriage or a jurisdiction that does not recognize same-sex marriage.
It was less than two decades ago when the federal Defense of Marriage Act was signed by President Clinton. DOMA allowed states to define a marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Here in Washington, following the sentiment that was sweeping the nation at the time, our statutes were amended in 1998 to do just that. That policy was overturned by the Legislature last year – a decision that was upheld by the voters.
Currently there are 13 states that recognize same-sex marriages while 35 specifically prohibit them through state laws or constitutional amendments.
DOMA was tossed out by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.
In the wake of the DOMA ruling, yesterday’s decision by the IRS shouldn’t be a big surprise. There’s an enormous amount of benefits that come with being married. Do we really want a divided country where couples in Vancouver, Washington are entitled to those benefits, but their neighbors in Portland, Oregon are not?
With this ruling, legally married gay couples will be treated equally, regardless of where they live, for federal tax purposes.
Even if they live in states like Nebraska, Alabama, or Texas where the denial of their marriage rights are embedded within those state constitutions, they’ll be treated like every other legally married couple in the U.S., at least as far as federal taxes and benefits are concerned.
On a similar front, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a memo clarifying how the DOMA ruling will effect private Medicare plans:
“HHS is working swiftly to implement the Supreme Court’s decision and maximize federal recognition of same-sex spouses in HHS programs,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Today’s announcement is the first of many steps that we will be taking over the coming months to clarify the effects of the Supreme Court’s decision and to ensure that gay and lesbian married couples are treated equally under the law.”
At this rate, it’s only a matter of time when marriage equality is living freely across the entire country. We’re proud to be a state that is leading the charge.