Employment And Benefits Developments: Same-Sex Couples

On Aug. 29, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service issued a Revenue Ruling answering many questions raised by the Supreme Court's ruling in United States v. Windsor earlier this summer. In Windsor, the court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman for federal law purposes, was unconstitutional because it denied same-sex couples equal protection under the law. The IRS's first formal response to the Windsor decision holds that for all federal tax purposes:

1. The term "marriage" includes a marriage between two individuals of the same sex, provided those individuals are lawfully married under state law (or the laws of a territory or foreign jurisdiction with the legal authority to sanction marriage);