Centennial State News

Denver — As Pride Month comes to a close, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, Chair of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight, joined U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to introduce two bills to make our tax system fairer for LGBTQ+ families.

“As we celebrate the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month, we also must continue working to achieve equality for all – that includes writing a fairer tax code that does not discriminate based on who you love,” said Bennet. “These bills are important steps forward to update our tax system and build an economy that works for everyone.”

“Marriage equality is the law of the land, but the tax code still reflects the discrimination of yesteryear. It’s long past time for that to change,” said Wyden. “Recent history has proven that the Supreme Court is perfectly willing to uproot legal precedent and defy the will of large majorities of the American people in ways that roll back key individual rights. The Congress cannot take issues like marriage equality for granted. We have a responsibility to protect all aspects of marriage equality, including the economic benefits, in black letter law.”

“For nearly a decade, legally married same-sex couples were denied the tax refunds they deserved because of who they love,” said Warren. “It's time for Congress to make it right by passing the Refund Equality Act to address this shameful discrimination and ensure same-sex couples get the refunds they are owed.”

For nearly a decade before the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in U.S. v. Windsor, legally married same-sex couples were forced to file as individuals and pay more in taxes because our tax system did not recognize marriages between same-sex couples. Additionally, the tax code only allows taxpayers to file amended joint returns dating back three years, preventing many same-sex couples from accessing years of savings. The Refund Equality Act makes our tax code fairer by allowing legally married same-sex couples to amend their returns filed prior to 2013, and the Equal Dignity for Married Taxpayers Act removes gender-specific references to marriage in the tax code — two common-sense reforms to the tax code to ensure it works for every American.

Last week, Bennet joined his colleagues to introduce the Equality Act to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, education, access to credit, and federal funding. Bennet also joined a Senate resolution recognizing June 2023 as LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

The text of the Refund Equality Act is available HERE. A summary of the bill is available HERE.

The text of the Equal Dignity for Married Taxpayers Act is available HERE.

Original source can be found here