Did you know that if you are a RDP in California you have to claim half of your partners income on your Federal Income Tax? (Yes, I said FEDERAL) If most of you are like me, the answer would be NO!! I’m either a bad gay, a bad tax payer or both! Well, in May of 2010 the IRS issued a memorandum concluding that community property earned by Registered Domestic Partners must be recognized as such for federal tax purposes.
Here is a quote from the tax law:
Registered Domestic Partners (RDP’s): The IRS extended recognition of community property laws to registered domestic partners domiciled in California, as well as same sex married couples (SSMC’s) in California, beginning in 2010 (Chief Counsel Advice 201021050; IRS Pub. 555). Thus, each partner must report one-half of the combined community income on their federal income tax return. Amended returns may be filed to report one-half of community property income for half of the income earned by one partner to the other for California on January 1, 2007. Under the Defense of Marriage Act (P.L. 104-199), these individuals are still considered not married for federal income tax purposes.
Now, this law may help some of you but it also may hurt some of you. And maybe you already knew this and only I was in the dark, but I’ve talked to several people and they had no idea about this either. Since it’s tax season and “we” aren’t the “norm” when it comes to taxes, I advise you all to make sure you know the ins and outs. There is a friendly, knowledgeable tax preparer on our Businesses page. Feel free to contact him or another qualified RDP/SSMC preparer.
Mid April will be here before you know it….. Good luck and many happy RETURNS! 🙂
