Given that DOMA has been recognized as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, what about same-sex couples married in states that permitted it, but who were forced to file Federal taxes as unmarried people?
Can they now file file an amended tax return for 2012 (and previous years, up to 7 years back, I recall) listing them as a married couple, and taking advantage of married deductions, and thereby having a larger refund owed to them?
Also SSM couples where one person has died, an the survivor had to pay inheritance tax – can they get a refund on that? (That was the specific issue in the Windsor case. Does that ruling apply just to her, or to all similar survivors?)
Also, can the surviving spouse of a SSM now file a claim for their spouses’ Social Security benefits?
If true, seems like this might be a nice economic stimulus for parts of the country!
I asked in the DOMA thread, you can look at that one although your questions are not answered completely.
It should be 3 years to file 1040X and get a refund, unless they touch that limit (maybe not). And of course, many states did not have SSM until recently, so it wouldn’t allow someone in New York (I think they’re more recent?) to go back to when it wasn’t legal there.
I bet that most of that is still being worked out but consider:
-SSM is very new so not that many same sex couples have been married for very long such that they would qualify.
-In most cases, married couples pay more taxes or any gains would be negligible so it wouldn’t make sense to do this even it they could.
-Estates need to be in excess of millions of dollars (actual amount varies by year of death) before they are taxed.
Given the small window of time and the financial situations needed to qualify for any money, there are vanishingly few people who would be able to do that. Edie Windsor was a golden needle in a haystack.
Before anybody goes out and gets married just for the purpose of “taking advantage of married deductions,” please consult with a properly credentialed tax advisor first (not somebody on the internet). Many of the people that were expecting great tax benefits are going to be getting a rude surprise. In any case, remember that for income tax purposes your marital status on December 31st of the year is the only thing that matters. Take the time to think this through.
OK: To be thorough, if one of the spouses dies before December 31st, marital status on the date of death will matter.
It’s too late to file an amended return for tax years 2008 and earlier.
If you received an extension to file your 2009 return (the unextended deadline was April 2010), you might still have time to file an amended return if it’s been no more than 3 years between when you file the amended return and when you filed your original return. If you didn’t get an extension for 2009, it’s too late.
The seven year statute of limitations referred to in the OP only applies to deductions for worthless stock and bad debt.
IIRC NYS recognized out-of-state same-sex marriages for a number of years before it allowed them to be performed locally, so it’s not even as straightforward as that.
I am advising my clients to wait and see if we get formal IRS guidance on these amendments. In some cases, we’re waiting to see if we have to amend, because some people actually came out better the old way.
I’d much rather wait for a formal procedure than to jump in early and be the guinea pig for all the IRS agents who haven’t had updated training sessions yet… but if the IRS takes too long, I may go ahead and get something filed just to make sure we don’t miss out on any statutes of limitations.
Also, a PS on what Alley Dweller said about statutes of limitations: it may be that some older years are open if there are balances due, letters or examinations that have kept it open longer.
Absolutely agree. It’s just that if someone is in danger of having the statute run out in the very near future, they should file a protective claim before it does, if it would be advantageous to them to do so.
And to emphasize, there is a strong chance that it might not be advantageous.