The state’s tagline used to be “Virginia is for lovers”
though now I think it should also say “*Some restrictions apply.”
You know, like if you’re one of The Gays; one of the legally
married Gays.
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| The Cooch |
From the desk soon-to-be-out-of-a-job Attorney General Ken
Cuccinelli, who has spent most of his time in office trying to legislate vaginas
and gay sex, the Virginia Department of Taxation will not allow legally married same-sex couples to file
joint federal tax returns.
No, now those legally married
folks will have to commit perjury on their tax forms when they file them as unmarried
individuals because, you know, they’re gay and stuff and that’s just nasty. In
addition, Kenny “Asshat” Cuccinelli, AKA The Cooch, has asked that the department
of taxation prevent small businesses from claiming deductions on the benefits
they offer to same-sex couples.
Virginia wants to punish The Gays and anyone who offers
benefits to them as well.
The Cooch’s order is contradictory to the new policy of
Internal Revenue Service, which recently announced that it would accept joint
tax returns from married same-sex couples, regardless of the laws of the state
in which they live, as long as they were married in a state that recognizes
same-sex marriages.
The tax officials say they will be following Virginia law,
where the state constitution defines marriage as the union of one man and one
woman, and forbids the state's recognition of any other relationship as a
marriage.
“It’s not a tax issue. It’s a constitutional matter. An administrator can’t go against his or her state constitution.”—Joel Davison, a department spokesperson
“Bull sh*t.”—Bob, blogger
But the good news is that The
Cooch’s latest anti-gay edict might be short-lived. LGBT advocates are hoping, even
pushing, for governor-elect Terry McAuliffe to follow the lead of Missouri
Governor Jay Nixon who has ordered his state’s Department of Revenue to require
all married Missouri couples who file joint federal tax returns, regardless of
sexual orientation, to also file jointly with the state.
But, and ain’t there always a but, the specific,
discriminatory, anti-equality language of Virginia’s constitutional amendment
could prevent McAuliffe from pursuing the same course, and McAuliffe has not yet
decided on a formal response to the issue.
Virginia is for lovers.
Of hate.
In Maryland, we are DELIGHTED to know that we are filing joint for State and Federal forms. Hooray!
ReplyDeleteIn Ohio, the state constitution bans all same sex partnerships, so our old accountant said that they will have to do the Federal returns together, and the state ones separately.
And I think that you'll also see a Federal tax case come down the pike pretty soon that might solve this issue.
For heaven's sake - at the rate we are burning thru money let people pay taxes!! joursuf
ReplyDeleteokay, that last word was the scrambled word. sigh......
ReplyDelete@TDM I was wonderin' .....
ReplyDeleteI say we make same-sex marriage LEGAL at the FEDERAL level and make all the states comply with federal law!
ReplyDeletewhat are we waiting for here, hell to freeze over? MARRIAGE EQUALITY NOW FOR ALL!
Those homophobic i.e., Republican controlled states who will not recognize marriage equality are fighting a losing battle and they know it. Just a mattef of time, just a matter of time before they will have no choice but to recognize that all it's citizens are equal.
ReplyDelete