The District’s registered domestic partners would be allowed to file their D.C. income taxes jointly under a bill adopted unanimously Thursday by a D.C. Council committee.

Gay couples are still barred from filing joint federal income tax returns. But the measure passed Thursday by the finance and revenue committee is nevertheless a “significant recognition by the District of Columbia government, and the symbolic value far outweighs any cost to the couples who choose to file their District income taxes jointly,” said Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans, the panel’s chair.