Treasury and IRS Announce That All Legal Same-Sex Marriages Will Be Recognized For Federal Tax Purposes;

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.

This ruling is goes A LOT further than most people expected. However, it would be an administrative nightmare for the IRS to maintain different rules for different jurisdictions, so the rationale makes perfect sense from an efficiency viewpoint. The other surprising development was the ability for same-sex couples to file amended returns for the past three years (or the typical statute of limitations for such claims).

I don‘t know about most folks, but the amended returns came as quite a pleasant surprise to me. My wife and I will be completing our amended return over the Labor Day weekend so we‘re ready when the September 16th filing window opens.

Thanks once again, Edie Windsor!

Revenue Ruling IR-2013-17
FAQs for Same-Sex Couples