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The ACLU of Idaho is calling on the Idaho legislature to reject the Idaho Tax Commission rule 35-0101-1303 which would change how the Tax Commission plans to treat tax returns of same-sex couples who are legally married in another state. The ACLU of Idaho is calling upon all fair-minded Idahoans to send messages to their legislators and show up to give public testimony at the hearing, asking that all legally married couples in our state be treated equally for tax purposes.
The rule will be up for consideration in the House Revenue & Taxation Committee either Monday, January 13 or Tuesday, January 14. Please check the legislative calendar. You can also submit written testimony to the committee secretary at hrev@house.idaho.gov or at (208) 332-1125.
Following the US Supreme Court ruling striking down Section 3 of DOMA last June, the US Department of the Treasury and the IRS announced in September 2013 that "All legal same-sex marriages will be recognized for Federal tax purposes." The ruling applies whether the couple lives in a state that recognizes same-sex marriage or a state that does not recognize same-sex marriage, such as in Idaho. In response, the Idaho Tax Commission has promulgated a rule on state tax returns that does not provide equal treatment under the law. The Tax Commission’s rational for the rule is that “since Idaho law doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage, different provisions apply.”
If approved, this ruling will create undue hardship on legally married same-sex taxpayers in Idaho, making it more time consuming to prepare their returns (and more costly if they use a paid tax preparer). Paper filing will be required, which will slow down refunds to taxpayers. Additionally, to file the way the Idaho Tax Commission is proposing will create undue hardship on them, because the Federal return as filed with the Department of Treasury will NOT match the Federal return as filed with the Idaho Tax Commission. This will make the return more difficult to audit and require manual processing of the return. Should a return need to be amended at a later date, multiple returns will again have to be prepared.
ACLU of Idaho’s Executive Director Monica Hopkins points out, “It is important that Idaho income tax law continue to mirror the United States Treasury and Internal Revenue Service. Doing so gives clear and equal guidance to all legally married couples in Idaho about how to complete their state income tax returns. There must be a better way of submitting State & Federal tax returns that does not place additional burden on these legally married same-sex couples or the Idaho Tax Commission.”
In November 2013 the Governor of Missouri, which has similar laws and a constitutional amendment as does Idaho, announced he would sign an executive order allowing same-sex couples to file joint returns. The ACLU of Idaho is calling for the legislature to reject the Idaho Tax Commission rule and allow them to follow this same process.