All Legal Same-Sex Marriages Will Be Recognized For Federal Tax Purposes effective September 16, 2013 under Revenue Ruling 2013-17 :
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service recently 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.
Any same-sex marriage legally entered into in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, a U.S. territory or a foreign country will be covered by the ruling. However, the ruling does not apply to registered domestic partnerships, civil unions or similar formal relationships recognized under state law.
Under the ruling, same-sex couples will be treated as married for all federal tax purposes, including income, gift and estate taxes. The ruling applies to all federal tax provisions where marriage is a factor, including filing status, claiming personal and dependency exemptions, taking the standard deduction, employee benefits, contributing to an IRA and claiming the earned income tax credit or child tax credit.
For tax year 2013 and going forward, same-sex spouses generally must file using a married filing separately or jointly filing status. For tax year 2012 and all prior years, same-sex spouses who file an original tax return on or after Sept. 16, 2013 (the effective date of Rev. Rul. 2013-17), generally must file using a married filing separately or jointly filing status.
For tax year 2012, same-sex spouses who filed their tax returns before September 16, 2013 may choose (but are not required) to amend their federal tax returns to file as married filing jointly or married filing separately. Similarly, for tax years 2011 and earlier, same-sex spouses who filed their tax return timely may (but are not required to) amend their federal tax returns to file as married filing jointly or married filing separately if the statute of limitations for amending the return has not expired. Generally, the statute of limitations for filing a refund claim is three years from the date the return was filed or two years from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later. As a result, refund claims can still be filed for tax years 2010, 2011 and 2012.
There are additional benefits to employees and employers regarding same-sex spouse health benefits.
Furthermore, qualified retirement plans are required to comply with the following rules pursuant to Rev. Rul. 2013-17. You should check with your Retirement Plan Administrator as to the possible benefits of this ruling.
As this can be a really good opportunity for tax savings, we encourage our clients to take advantage of this new ruling. Please contact Maria at our office for more information.