IRS Issues Proposed Regulations To Accommodate Obergefell

On October 21, 2015, the IRS issued proposed regulations to clarify the treatment of same-sex spouses for federal tax purposes. By way of background, in 2013, the United States Supreme Court held in United States v. Windsor that the portion of the Defense of Marriage Act defining marriage as being between opposite-sex partners was unconstitutional.  Shortly following the Windsor decision, the IRS issued guidance recognizing, for federal tax purposes, same-sex marriages performed in states permitting such marriages.  As previously reported, the Supreme Court recently held in Obergefell v. Hodges, that the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses required states to allow same-sex marriage and to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.