Blue Jersey’s second ad for marriage equality features the same two women—one married, one “civil unionized”—as the first. This time the pair are doing their respective taxes. “Single, Married, Divorced, Widowed?” the civil-unionized woman reads in puzzlement. None of the categories fit her. The ad fails, however, to address the obvious comeback: “Well, won’t they just add ‘Civil Unionized’ to the form?” It’s a good point: this is exactly what Vermont (PDF link) did, with the options “CU Partner Filing Jointly” and “CU Filing Separately.”
The real problem with same-sex couples filing tax returns is that even if our state allows us to file as partnered or married, the federal government doesn’t. Filing both state and federal income taxes is bad enough, even for those who always file as single. Doing one as married/partnered and one as single boggles my mind, and I only hope Turbo Tax can handle it. I’m trying not to think about my 2007 taxes, which will involve two state forms (because we’re moving), one as single and one as married, and a federal.
That is, however, irrelevant to the issue of what New Jersey should call same-sex partnerships. I applaud Blue Jersey for trying to change hearts and minds on this matter, and hope that their next argument isn’t as easy to counter.
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