DC Nixes Same-Sex
Joint Tax Filings
by Doreen Brandt
365Gay.com from the Web, May 4, 2005
Washington -- The District of
Columbia has bowed to demands from Congressional Republicans and will reject the
advice of its own Attorney General that same-sex couples in the District who are
legally married can file joint income tax returns.
Natwar Gandhi, the District's chief financial officer ruled on Tuesday that
same-sex couples who were married last year in Massachusetts will not be allowed
to file joint D.C. income tax returns.
Gandhi said that D.C. law allows only taxpayers who file joint federal returns
to file jointly in the District. Federal law does not permit same-sex
couples to file joint returns.
Two weeks ago, D.C. Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti said that gay couples
would be able to file joint city tax returns, but added that the final decision
would be Gandhi's.
Spangoletti's legal opinion was in response to a request from Edward Horvath and
Richard Neidich, D.C. residents and federal workers, who say they have been a
couple for 25 years. They say they were married last summer in
Massachusetts.
Following Spangoletti's statement Republicans in Congress, led by Senator Sam
Brownback (R-Kansas) issued a veiled threat to DC mayor Anthony Williams that if
his administration recognizes same-sex marriages performed in Massachusetts or
Canada the District could face a battle over funding.
Brownback is the new chair of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on the
District and a co-sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment.
Horvath and Neidich told The Washington Post that they have no immediate plans
to sue the city. But they say they "are open to consider anything" if
legal experts think a case is worth pursuing.
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