Equality or Dysfunction - State Tax Law in a Post-Windsor World
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Authors
Mirkay, Nicholas A.
Issue Date
2014
Volume
47
Issue
2
Type
Journal Article
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
INTRODUCTION|Depending on one's religious and political proclivities, the United States Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor can either been seen as a progressive step towards equality or a troublesome departure from traditional marriage norms. Notwithstanding, from a federal tax perspective, the Windsor decision clearly raised a myriad of issues that spanned virtually the entire Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"), including but not limited to income taxes (including filing status), estate and gift taxes, payroll taxes, and the tax treatment of retirement account contributions and social security benefits. In the aftermath of Windsor, the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") was left with a quandary in administering marital-status-dependent Code provisions: should it base its administration of the Code on the taxpayer's valid marriage in the state in which it was performed (commonly referred to as the "state of celebration" test) or the taxpayer's state of residence or domicile (commonly referred to as the "state of residence" test)? The IRS resolved most of the federal tax issues raised by Windsor in its issuance of Revenue Ruling 2013-17, which chiefly adopted a state-of-celebration test for income and other tax purposes. However, the ruling did not extend to quasi-marital statuses, such as domestic partnerships and civil unions, resulting in federal tax non-recognition and complexities for couples in those legally recognized relationships.
Description
Citation
47 Creighton L. Rev. 261(2013-2014)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law