June 12, 201115 yr Active Members By ruling that gay married couples and domestic partners in the 3 community property states can use community property definitions to allocate their incomes, the IRS saved many thousands for some gay couples. Emphasis on some. If you have 2 affluent wage-earners, it won't help much. But, if their is a disparity in income, or one partner does not work, then this division lowers the tax by shifting half of the community income to the lower earning partner. That makes the tax rate lower for the higher income partner. And that is what I have been doing all week- trying to figure out how to apply this new ruling (see Publication 555) to my taxes.It's been very difficult. Then, when I got to the California returns, the rules were virtually incomprehensible, and I am one who has done my own taxes all of my life. According to the NY Times, many who got through the hoops on their federal returns were turned back after filing, with IRS employees themselves not understanding the new rules: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/us/12bcjames.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=IRS%20to%20gay%20couples&st=cse The ruling is retroactive to 2007, so I can now do amended returns for those years and get several thousand dollars that I paid in taxes refunded. Now that I know how to do it, it should be easier. But I do dread going through this process again. So, besides getting back my estimated tax payments for last year, I won't have to file estimated tax this year. That is, unless those same IRS employees try to send my returns back to me. The article says that it may not be so much that the employees don't understand the law, but that, being in Fresno, they are homophobic and unhappy to help the gays get this better treatment. I doubt that is true!
June 12, 201115 yr Lucky, Lucky, Lucky......... God made accountants for the very purpose of saving you from pulling your hair out. My brain - such as it is - turns to mush at the sight of a blank tax return form. Deduct line 273 from the totals of lines 24, 61 and 218. If such total does not exceed 3% of deductible medical expense after line 40 has been increased by 34%, then proceed directly to section "8' and................. Forget about it. I don't care how much he will charge me, it's worth every penny. By the way I wouldn't rule out the possibility of homophobia being the cause of rejected returns. It could be that it was scrutinized by the same person who voted against gay marriage.
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