Article On Treasury Regulations Relating To Marital Status

Anthony C. Infanti (University of Pittsburgh – School of Law) & American Bar Association Section of Taxation recently published an article entitled, Comments on Proposed Treasury Regulations Defining Terms Relating to Marital Status. Below is an abstract of the article:

These comments respond to proposed Treasury Regulations defining terms relating to marital status in the Internal Revenue Code following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Windsor and Obergefell cases. The comments applaud the Internal Revenue Service for reading gendered terms relating to marital status in a gender-neutral fashion. For a number of reasons, however, the comments recommend that the final regulations omit the proposed rule for determining an individual’s marital status and, in its place, codify the current deference to local law in determining marital status for federal tax purposes. Most importantly, the comments further recommend that the final regulations reverse the IRS’s current position regarding domestic partnerships, civil unions, and similar relationships and instead recognize those relationships for federal tax purposes.