The Gay Tax: How the Estate Tax Marital Deduction Costs Same-Sex Couples $3.3 Million
The Williams Institute of UCLA School of Law has released a study [pdf] that shows that same-sex couples are assessed an average of $3.3 million more in taxes upon the death of their partner than a similarly situated opposite-sex couple. Because estate taxes are set federally, the Defense of Marriage Act prohibits even married same-sex couples from taking advantage of the marital deduction.
Says Michael D. Steinberger, the author of the study:
Even in 2010, when the estate tax is currently slated to be repealed, federal law allows different-sex married couples to shelter an additional $3 million in capital gains when a partner dies. Regardless of your views about this tax, it is a costly implication of legal discrimination against gay and lesbian couples.
The study also estimated that if the current laws are not changed, gay and lesbian couples will have lost more than $3.5 billion in the decade preceding 2011. Steinberger advises that: "As Congress turns to legislation in December to address the estate tax before it disappears in 2010, it should address these inequalities for same-sex couples and their families."
The cost to provide equal benefits to same-sex couples would be one twentieth of one percent (.05%) of the total federal government revenue.
The full study, Federal Estate Tax Disadvantages for Same-Sex Couples [pdf], is available at the Williams Institute website.
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