Same-sex married couples will be allowed to file joint federal tax returns, the same as married heterosexual couples, the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced Thursday.
The new policy, a response to a Supreme Court ruling in June that overturned a key provision in the Defense of Marriage Act, allows same-sex married couples to claim marriage-related exemptions, credits and deductions even if they live in jurisdictions that don’t recognize gay unions. Like heterosexual spouses, gay couples will be required to declare “married filing jointly” or “married filing separately.”
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a statement that the move “assures legally married same-sex couples that they can move freely throughout the country knowing that their federal filing status will not change.”
The policy applies only to legally married couples and not to those in registered domestic partnerships, civil unions or similar formal relationships recognized by certain states.
The policy shift was inevitable after the DOMA ruling in United States v. Windsor, but the change nonetheless represents a milestone for gay-rights advocates.
Why wouldn’t same sex couples have the same rights as heterosexual couples? Isn’t that what this is all about?
For those living in the Old Dominion, there will be no state tax relief.
