Married Same Sex Couples Treated as Married for All Federal Tax Purposes in Any State

AsI have previously discussed,the IRS and the Treasury Department have ruled that legally married gay coupleswill be recognized as married for federal tax purposes even in the states thatdo not allow gay marriage. This is the broadest change in the law since theSupreme Court struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act in June.

TheIRS ruling will be published on September 16. The ruling explains that same sexcouples are treated as married for all federal tax purposes, including estateand income tax. Gay couples have the option to amend returns or file forrefunds for previous years. The IRS statute of limitations is three years which means theamendments or refunds can only go back until 2010. If couples received an extension for 2012, they haveuntil September 15 to make a decision of whether to file that return as marriedor not.

See Deborah L. Jacobs, Same-Sex Married Couples Will Get Federal Tax Breaks, No Matter Where They Live, Forbes, Aug. 29, 2013.