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Tax Time 2007
Which Boxes Can YOU Check?
As Americans from coast to coast rush to meet the upcoming April deadline to file their tax returns, a unique opportunity presents itself to remind the country that if they think tax time is convoluted for most folks, they should see how the continued exclusion of same sex couples from marriage makes tax time an even more exceptional burden. Tax time is a reminder of one more of the many unnecessary obstacles the government puts in the path of same sex couples and their families who are trying to live their lives and do the right then, including pay their taxes. Let's spread the word about the reality of discrimination in action in households across the country, and further the conversation about why marriage matters...
Find information about how, when it comes to taxes, same-sex committed couples will always pay more, but get less because of discrimination in marriage. Read articles, learn what you can do, download resources. Get active. Get engaged.
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Tax Time Press Release & Email Campaign
Press Release: Same-Sex Couples Pay More, But Get Less at Tax Time
Couples denied the freedom to marry are unfairly burdened in life's crises, and at tax time.
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DAY ONE
Which boxes can YOU check?
As Americans from coast to coast rush to meet the upcoming April 16th deadline to file their 2006 tax returns, same-sex couples and their families — as well as their employers and tax preparers — face an unfair hurdle placed in front of them by the government.
Excluding same-sex couples from marriage means increased tax burdens for people who are trying to live their lives and do the right thing, including pay their taxes.
Let's spread the word about the reality of discrimination in households across the country, and further the conversation about why marriage matters...
- There are 1,138 federal legal protections, hundreds of state and local-level protections, and employer benefits provided through marriage from which same sex couples are currently excluded.
- When it comes to taxes, same-sex committed couples will always pay more, but get less because of discrimination in marriage. Since same-sex couples cannot jointly file their taxes, they lose out on the marriage benefit of being taxed at a lower level, while also losing out on the ability to collect each other's social security, receive automatic inheritance rights, or transfer property without being taxed, just to name a few losses.
Read the rest at Tax Time #1.
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DAY TWO
6 Days 'til Tax Day: All kids & families deserve an economic safety net.
One of the values of our current tax system is that married couples can use tax benefits to help protect and support their families.
Same-sex couples are raising children in at least 96% of all US counties while being excluded from the many tax benefits that come with marriage.
Ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage will provide security, respect, and a safety net to many more Americans, helping families and hurting no one.
- A 2000 report from Stanford University surveyed the legal and economic landscape and concluded that because same-sex couples are denied the freedom to marry, "the children living with same-sex partners are made to suffer." These disadvantages have a disproportionately high impact on children in families of lesser means.
- Children are deprived of safety and security when their parents are excluded from marriage and can not get automatic protections such as: Social Security survivor benefits; child support obligations; custody protections; state and federal tax advantages; legal parent recognition in schools and for medical decisions, immigration status, inheritance, passport applications, visitation rights, family medical leave, and much more including the intangible reassurance that comes from knowing that your family is respected and protected.
- Understanding that no children should be deprived by their government of the protections and resources of the economic safety net that comes with marriage, the American Academy of Pediatrics, our nations kids doctors, have officially called for the end of excluding same-sex couples from marriage, along with numerous leading professional associations including: American Academy of Family Physicians' Congress of Delegates, American Psychological Association, American Psychoanalytic Association, National Association of Social Workers, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Medical Association, Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association
Read the rest at Tax Time #2.
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DAY THREE
Marriage Equality is not just personal; it's good business.
Offering insurance benefits to married spouses of employees is one of the most effective recruitment and retention tools for companies. When this process is made simple and easy for all employees, employers benefit financiallyat tax time, and any time.
The continuing exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage makes offering gay and lesbian employees family benefits a complicated and costly process for employers.
In addition, gay and lesbian employees stand to lose many other important family protections because of marriage discrimination.
Did you know...
- Marriage discrimination costs employers. Although currently more than half of Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partner benefits to gay and lesbian employees, all of these companies must create new administrative processes to deal with situations such as transferring employees to different states that have different relationship laws, or keeping two sets of books to deal with their states differing laws on relationship recognition.
- At tax time, marriage discrimination means same-sex couples pay more & get less. Unlike married partners, who can pass hard-earned Social Security benefits to their spouses and kids after their death, employees in committed same-sex relationships contribute to Social Security through involuntary pay check deductions, but dont get the same protections in a time of need as their married co-workers.
Read the rest at Tax Time #3.
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DAY FOUR
Without equality, who's got you covered?
Did you know...
- Dependent health and life insurance, for both children and spouses, is tax-free for a married couple, whereas an unmarried couple is taxed (often more than once, both federally and by the state). Denied marriage, same-sex couples are excluded from this tax benefit, among many others.
- Civil unions and/or domestic partnerships are NOT a "good enough" solution for same-sex couples. Even with these second-class alternatives to marriage, the federal government will continue to consider the insurance taxable income, possibly adding $10,000 or more per year to their income level, and resulting in higher taxes.
Read the rest at Tax Time #4.
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DAY FIVE
Second-class status equals a first-class headache at tax time.
Civil unions and domestic partnerships have been created by some states to give some benefits of marriage to same-sex couples, while withholding the full equality of marriage itself. These new legal terms cause a lot of confusion during tax time.
Why create second-class citizenship and more confusion instead of just allowing couples into the system we already havemarriage?
- For filing taxes with civil unions and domestic partnerships, tax professionals are a near-requirement (and added expense) for couples to understand how to receive many of the protections intended by state law.
- Since the federal government only recognizes marriage, same-sex couples who have civil unions or domestic partnerships still do not get any of the 1,138 federal protections, rights, and responsibilities that come with marriage.
Read the rest at Tax Time #5.
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DAY SIX
Don't let tax laws kick same sex couples when they're already down. Get Active: Get Engaged!
The protections, rights, and responsibilities that come with marriage make couples and families more safe and secure, especially in hard times such as divorce and death.
Tax laws for married couples protect them from paying hefty taxes when transferring property or receiving inheritance.
Ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage will protect all couples, and their families, from adverse consequences in good times, in tough times and at tax time.
- Discrimination in marriage leads to discrimination in divorce. If a same-sex couple splits up and has to divide their assets in court, the IRS considers that transfer of assets subject to hefty "gift" or "income" taxes. Alimony and child support, to an unrecognized parent, are also heavily taxed as "gifts" or "income."
- Same-sex couples are also denied tax benefits after death. Sadly, if one partner dies the surviving partner may face losing their home due to the high rate of taxation for property transfer to a non-spouse.
Read the rest at Tax Time #6.
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DAY SEVEN TAXES DUE!
"Nothing is certain but death and taxes." Benjamin Franklin- Same-sex couples stand to lose their entire mortgage deduction if the person earning the most income and pays the mortgage and property taxes isn't the same person named on the mortgage.
- Same-sex couples stand to lose vast sums of their life savings upon the death of one of the partners because they are excluded from the ability to roll over a spouses retirement savings plan tax free upon death. Rather than being able to let the money continue growing tax free, the survivor, as the beneficiary, must begin to take distributions immediately. If the surviving partner is under age 59, there is an early withdrawal penalty of 10% on the value of the IRA or 401(k).
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WHERE YOU CAN GO TO LEARN MORE:
Landscape of the Freedom to Marry: Economics & Business
Excluding same-sex couples and their families from marriage not only causes economic hardship for families, but also negatively impacts businesses.
Giant Tax Headaches for Gay Couples
Some states allow same-sex partners to file joint returns, but because the U.S. government doesn't, tax season for gays means additional paperwork and lots more time-sapping computations.
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PUBLICATIONS:
For Richer, For Poorer
Marriage inequality affects all same-sex couples regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, or physical ability. As with most injustices, the effects of marriage discrimination fall particularly hard on those living on the margins: the poor, the less educated, immigrants, children, the elderly, the ill, and those otherwise most vulnerable.
Unequal Taxes on Equal Benefits: The Taxation of Domestic Partner Benefits
Public policy encourages employers to provide health insurance by exempting that form of compensation from taxation. As a result, married workers who get family health insurance benefits get a double benefit—they get health insurance coverage for their spouses and children and are not taxed on the value of that coverage. In sharp contrast, workers who have an unmarried domestic partner are doubly burdened: Their employers typically do not provide coverage for domestic partners; and even when partners are covered, the partner’s coverage is taxed as income to the employee. As a result, the taxation of domestic partner health care benefits sets up a two-tiered tax policy that costs many American families and their employers millions of dollars each year. This report estimates the financial impact of this extra tax on employees and employers.
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NEWS:
Tax time for gay couples means complications, higher bills
For gay couples, the April 15 tax filing deadline can be a reminder of the disparities they face, even in a nation that is becoming more accepting of same-sex couples. Gay couples often pay higher taxes because they don't get the federal tax benefits that go with marriage. And for couples in state-sanctioned domestic partnerships, civil unions or marriages, filing federal income taxes can involve doing three sets of paperwork instead of one.
Gay couples face tax complications
For gay couples, the April 15 tax filing deadline can be a reminder of the disparities they face, even in a nation that is becoming more accepting of same-sex couples.
Tax Day 2008: The Cost of Being Gay
State and federal laws impose real dollar costs on real people. Call it “The Cost of Being Gay.” Many of the most significant examples of this cost occur in state and federal tax law. On tax day (April 15), Americans file both state and federal tax returns. For GLBT couples, tax day is a concrete reminder of the inequality that results from being denied marriage rights and from the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which denies federal recognition of same-sex relationships for over one thousand federal protections.
BLOG: Tax Time Deliberation: Married or Not?
Sara Whitman writes, “As married, heterosexual couples across America pull out their tax forms in the last minute rush to file by April 14th at seconds before midnight, same-sex couples are slapped in the face one more time with their second-class citizenship.”
BLOG: IRA’s Raise My Ire
HRC takes a look at tax season with their "7 Days to a Better Financial You" campaign, and kicks it off with the video of two lesbian moms talking about the financial difficulties of raising children under the unfair burdens faced by same-sex couples. HRC hits the high points here, but doesn't discuss the fact that it can be harder for a same-sex couple to have one partner stay at home to take care of their children.
BLOG: Commentary: Inequality is Inconvenient
Terrance reflects on the answer to the question, "Are you married?" He writes, "there are a thousand different ways in which the answer to that question can impact our lives and our families, because we can’t legally marry, and the law can’t figure out what to do do with us, or how to define us, and hasn’t caught up with us as we forge ahead with our lives, making commitments to each other, and creating our families as we go. In those cases, we don’t often get the benefit of the doubt."
Taxing Our Patience
As the tax deadline approaches, Evan Wolfson discusses how marriage discrimination causes unfair taxes for families across the country and offers examples of such discrimination.
More Taxing For Some
Tax time is taxing enough. But consider the plight of Jason Smith and his partner, Settimio Pisu of Guilford. The same-sex couple, as well as their peers, must file not one, not two, but three tax returns by April 15. That's because they are joined not in marriage, but by civil union, the only legal option for same-sex couples in Connecticut. Because there is no federal recognition of marriage for same-sex couples or unions, they must file separate returns as well as a joint return, which is used as a work sheet to calculate their Connecticut taxes.
We’re Here, We’re Queer, We File Every Year
Blogger Dana on Mombian walks through the confusing process of trying to file taxes online: “What’s a married Massachusetts lesbian to do? I suppose I should click “Single,” since this is the federal part of my return. It’s unclear whether this information will carry over to my state return, though.”
Geography of taxes
Regardless of your political affiliation, one debate that usually inflames passions in the Washington Metro Area is whether it’s best to live in D.C, Virginia or Maryland. The question becomes more important if you are a same-sex couple. For example, let’s say you’ve saved $1 million in your retirement account, which you planned to leave to your partner at death. In which jurisdiction would the taxes be the lowest on your estate: D.C., Virginia or Maryland? If you said D.C., you’d be wrong. Maryland? No, guess again. The answer is Virginia. Yep, that’s right, the anti-gay Commonwealth.
Same-Sex Couple Blocked By H & R
A Conn. gay couple in a civil union found themselves banned from jointly filing their taxes on H&R Block's website despite state law requiring equal treatment to couples in civil unions.
Same-Sex Couples and Same-Sex Couples Raising Children in The United States: Data from Census 2000
This report provides demographic and socio-economic information about same-sex couples and same-sex couples raising children in the United States.
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Some states allow same-sex partners to file joint returns, but because the U.S. government doesn't, tax season for gays means additional paperwork and lots more time-sapping computations.
Excluding same-sex couples and their families from marriage not only causes economic hardship for families, but also negatively impacts businesses.
Why the freedom to marry is a matter of economic justice
Marriage inequality affects all same-sex couples regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, or physical ability. As with most injustices, the effects of marriage discrimination fall particularly hard on those living on the margins: the poor, the less educated, immigrants, children, the elderly, the ill, and those otherwise most vulnerable.
