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.
The D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue has long interpreted the filing of a joint federal return as a pre-condition to filing a joint District return, according to testimony presented during a public hearing on the bill in November. But under the bill, the city’s roughly 700 domestic partnerships — those registered with the Department of Health’s vital records division — would have the right to file just as married couples do.
“Nonconformity with the federal government is a small inconvenience compared to recognition of the dignity and worth of domestic partners in the District,” Bob Summersgill, representing the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, said in his testimony during a Council hearing last month.
The legislation, which will now be considered by the full Council, has a $25,000 fiscal impact, essentially the cost of creating and programming a new D.C. income tax form. The impact on tax revenues is unknown.
With Council approval expected, the bill will move to its 30-day congressional review period sometime next year, where it stands a good chance with Democrats in control, Evans said.
“It’s another step forward for nontraditional partnerships, and we really appreciate this,” said Ward 1 Council Member Jim Graham, one of two openly gay council members.
