Comments on: DOMA Packs a Particularly Potent Punch at Tax Time

By: Truth Wins Out - Is DOMA Causing You Financial Hardship?

Truth Wins Out - Is DOMA Causing You Financial Hardship? — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:19:59 +0000

[...] this month I wrote a piece about how the “Defense of Marriage Act” unfairly punishes same-sex couples during tax [...]

By: DOMA IS OUR GOLIATH AND TRUTH CAN BRING HIM DOWN! : Rage Monthly Magazine

DOMA IS OUR GOLIATH AND TRUTH CAN BRING HIM DOWN! : Rage Monthly Magazine — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 22:56:36 +0000

[...] http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2012/04/24160/ [...]

By: John M. Becker

John M. Becker — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:47:44 +0000

Thank you all for sharing your stories with me and with TWO’s readers. I hope you continue speaking out among your families, friends, and social circles. That’s how we’ll ultimately defeat DOMA! :-) xoxo

By: Qwerty

Qwerty — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:23:04 +0000

With my partner of 19 years, wherein I have been the chief “breadwinner,” I have calculated that my inability to file a joint return has cost us about $5000 a year in federal taxes (somewhat less in state taxes). You can do the math – in many parts of the country, this would have bought a house.

By: OldBaldGuy

OldBaldGuy — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:11:28 +0000

In addition to federal amount we are charged extra, there is also the extra amount that I pay to have my husband on my health insurance. The town has to report their contribution to my family health insurance plan as extra income – which the federal government ALSO taxes me for – because my husband is on my health plan. No children here, so not as large a penalty as Derek is reporting, but still.

Of course, this is a step up from the year before marriage was legal for us, when hubby’s employer refused to allow him to put me on his plan “because there is no state law requiring us to do so.” They DID however, understand how important pets are SO THEY OFFERED US A PLAN FOR OUR CAT.

Same sex spouse = not valuable enough to insure.
Non-tax-paying house pet with no prefrontal cortex = valuable enough to insure.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 06:02:37 +0000

Good work, John. For your readers who haven’t read it, I recommend the article I wrote last fall on this topic: http://www.edgeboston.com/news/local///125654/irs_creates_clash_between_doma_and_state_sovereignty

I am currently working on a follow-up article detailing the battle my husband and I have fought for 9 months and are just now resolving after many nightmares and sleepless nights of worry. I am in the process of writing a follow-up story about the Hell and expense we were forced to go through to finally resolve the issue only to discover others in the same predicament will only benefit from our efforts if they go through the same Hell. Otherwise, they simply lose out!

Hugs to you and Michael from Bob and me,
Bill :)

By: Derek

Derek — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 02:22:39 +0000

The gay tax alone is horrendous, but where my husband and I feel it most is with our child.

I work for a small startup with virtually no benefits and he works for a large corporation. He is offered tremendous benefits for him and his opposite sex partner (if he had one), but because I have a penis and not a vagina, we are stuck paying nearly $5k more a year annually for sub-par insurance on our son and myself.

By: Paul Douglas

Paul Douglas — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 02:15:16 +0000

I’ve mentioned this before but my husband is now on my health insurance because (thankfully) we have an employer who is enlightened. Nevertheless, because of DOMA, I was taxed on $6500 dollars “income” I never saw a dime of last year, because my husband is not my wife. The FEDS are taxing the benefit of his health care coverage and counting that coverage as my income. Had he been a she, that health care benefit would have counted as NADA in terms of income.
I also want to reiterate John’s point. We go through the same hassles to file our taxes jointly in our state, but we get a WHOLE bunch more money back doing so. Quite amazing how much in fact!

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 01:19:15 +0000

It gets worse for families with children. Tax breaks designed to benefit children are not as easily available to the children of gay headed families. The limits are different for things like the child tax credit, tuition credits, etc. So DOMA not only discriminates against gay people, but also the children of gay people. I don’t know why somebody hasn’t brought a suit against DOMA on behalf of some kids. There are so many other things that in terms of benefits and security that they don’t have compared to the children of straight headed families.
The tax rules also discriminate against single parents such as myself. As a single father of 3, I would every year calculate my taxes as if we were a family of 4 but with a wife and 2 kids instead of myself and 3 kids. Everything else being the same, the difference was always in the thousands of dollars. Money that could have gone to college, clothes, etc for my kids.

By: Bose in St Peter MN

Bose in St Peter MN — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 01:14:34 +0000

Another experience worth exploring in this context is same-sex married couples who will pay more federal taxes once DOMA ends.

Two 30-year-olds with matching higher ($75-150K) incomes will pay more taxes as a couple. But, if their plans include expanding the family via foster care and/or adoption, like any other growing family, the extra taxes may be worthwhile in exchange for future years when the income of one or both drops in order to focus on family.

It’s not hard to imagine that two 60-year-olds with similar, substantial incomes and comparable pensions/retirement plans will also be happy to pay higher taxes in the near term to ensure that jointly-held assets stay with the survivor, no matter who lives longer.