IRS Now Recognizing All Same-Sex Marriages

Treasury Dept. agrees: 'husband,' 'wife' apply to gay couples too
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 21, 2015 4:21 PM CDT
IRS Now Recognizing All Same-Sex Marriages
This photo taken Aug. 19, 2015 shows the The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Building in Washington.   (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The IRS is making it official: The tax agency says it will now recognize same-sex marriages regardless of where they were performed. The IRS and the Treasury Department also said they will interpret the terms "husband" and "wife" to apply to same-sex spouses as well as opposite-sex spouses. The IRS proposed the regulations Wednesday to implement the Supreme Court's decision in June legalizing same-sex marriages in every state.

The regulations will ensure "that all are treated equally under the law," Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said. "These regulations provide additional clarity on how the federal government will treat same-sex couples for tax purposes in light of the Supreme Court's historic decision on same-sex marriage." The IRS has recognized same-sex marriages for tax purposes since 2013, as long as the marriages were performed in states where same-sex marriage was legal. Same-sex marriages are now legal in every state. (More Internal Revenue Service stories.)

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