Filing Taxes – Here’s a Few Things that You Need to Know as a Gay Couple

April 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Trying to figure out taxes is hard enough if you’re in a regular heterosexual relationship. However, what happens when you’re in a gay relationship that’s pretty serious? What happens when you get married in a state where gay marriage is legal? You need to understand what type of taxes you’re going to have to face. This doesn’t mean that it’s easy for you to figure all of this stuff out. The truth is that the federal government makes same sex marriage still illegal at the federal level. States, however, can decide for themselves whether to make same sex marriage legal or not.

If you live in a community property state, this is even more difficult. What you need to know is below, and we truly hope it helps.

First and foremost, you need to realize that if you are going to file federal tax returns, you cannot check “married” or “married filing separately”. You are not considered married for federal tax purposes.

You also cannot use the head of household filing status, unless you have more than one dependent who isn’t your same sex partner.

What about children? Qualifying children can really change a couple’s taxes. However, with same sex couples you cannot both claim the child on your income tax returns. The IRS will treat the child as the qualifying child of the parent that has the child for the longer period of time. If this is a “tie,” then the IRS will grant the child to the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI).

There is some good here — you can itemize your deductions or claim the standard deduction. You’re not blocked by what your same sex partner actually decides to do. This is different from married couples in the eyes of the federal government, who cannot get a standard deduction if their partner claims the itemized deduction.

Another piece of good news — both members of a gay couple who adopt a child can get the adoption credit. The maximum credit for each adopted child is $13,360. You cannot exceed that maximum for any reason. There are special needs adoptions that relax the rules a bit, but you still need to make sure that you’re documenting as much as possible.

It can be difficult to navigate what’s “OK” and not OK in terms of taxation when you’re a gay couple. Since you lose many of the marriage-provided benefits that straight couples enjoy, you can expect to pay higher taxes. What a shame. Going with an accountant that has experience with gay couples is always a good thing. Check it out today!

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How Do Same-Sex Couples Treat Their Tax Returns

May 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Trying to plan for a same sex partnership is already difficult, but the pressure of tax season makes it even worse. As much as you love being with your partner, you probably have a hard time dealing with the trouble brewing around your income taxes. Even if you live in a state that recognizes same sex marriage or domestic partnership, you will still have to deal with federal tax issues. The state tax returns are based off of federal tax return information. And thanks to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the government does not recognize same-sex marriage nationwide, and neither does the IRS. So this means that couples cannot file jointly, which is definitely making tax life complicated. Same sex couples have to shell out a lot more money to be protected, which takes away money from the shared household.

And community property states mean even more complications. Many couples fear their returns being rejected because all of the numbers don’t match up all of the time. The preparer has to use a mock joint federal tax return, then use the “mock” return to prepare a joint state tax return. There’s still the danger of things being rejected, but it’s a risk many couples just have to take.


Refunds are also not very quick. Most same sex couples have to file paper returns, which slows down their refund dramatically — some couples have even had to wait nearly 10 months just to get their return. That’s a very long time, and it can really add up when you’re trying to really get bigger things done in your life.

Everything seems higher — health insurance costs, tax preparer costs, and the time that you have to wait for your refund. However, there are some light at the end of the tunnel. This is a problem that’s spiraling out of control, and many advocacy groups are now fighting hard for change sin tax legislation. So there could come a day where taxes flow as smoothly as they do for heterosexual married couples.

Is it possible? Yes. Will change come slowly? It often does. Hang in there!

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Handling Your Finances As a Gay Teenager

April 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Going to college or even just going out into the real world can be scary for any teenager, but there are other issues at stake when you are a gay teen. Let’s face it — people are indeed going to look at you differently. You will need to make sure that you really go out of your way to ensure that you take care of things in a way that makes sense for your life and no one else’s. You don’t want to find that you can’t get into the apartment that you want or even the job you want because you don’t have money.

Thinking about your finances is something that matters because no one else will do it for you. In fact, a lot of people will assume that they can take advantage of you if you don’t have a specific plan — don’t give into this at all!

If you want to make sure that you are financially stable to the best of your ability, you’ll need to make sure that you build a plan that’s going to help you get that done. The last thing that you want to do is find that you have no plan and you don’t know of anyone that can actually. help you do that.

Here’s what you need to know.

If you’re going to be with someone, you should realize that they have no legal right to your money. Even if they say that they want to be with you and become domestic partners, that doesn’t mean that your money is suddenly their money. This is something that happens sometimes in the gay community, but it doesn’t have to happen to you.

If you are going to live with someone, you need to make sure that all of your expectations and guidelines are spelled out. If you try to just stick to the honor system, you will eventually find someone that will hurt you. That’s not a good thing at all, and you need to make sure that you focus on the bigger picture. No one is going to fight harder for you than, well, YOU!

When you don’t have any credit but you have a job, you shouldn’t be surprised to find that you will indeed find many credit offers circling around you. That’s not to say that they aren’t a good thing to check out. In case of an emergency, credit is a decent source to tap. It’s obviously not the best source to tap but it can be a good hedge in a hurry. It’s often better than payday loans, because the interest rate is a lot lower.

So, where do you go from here? Get a pen and paper and really write out the things that you want. Do you want a new car? Do you want a house? When do you want these things? The more detailed that you are, the more likely it is that you’re going to get the things that you want. There’s no reason in the world to think that you have to go without the things that matter to you — good luck out there and build the financial plan that meets YOUR needs!

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