The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prevents the federal government from recognizing a marriage between two people of the same sex. Because of DOMA, no state is required to recognize a same-sex married couple (SSMC). This means that SSMCs are not recognized by the IRS. Taxes are complicated enough, as it is. Now SSMCs have the cumbersome task of filing separate federal tax returns and a joint state return. This can get very complicated. A state return asks for numbers from your federal return. What do SSMCs do about this? Some tax professionals will advise couples to prepare a "dummy" federal return (filled out as if their marriage was recognized), then use the numbers from the "dummy" return to complete the state return.

Over the next two years, members of SSMCs will pay approximately $4 million more in Estate Taxes than survivors of different-​sex marriages.

By Larry Ferrell, Feature Author

Larry Ferrell is a native of Louisiana and was raised in Ohio. He now lives in the Atlanta area and is an analyst with one of the world's top-ranked technology providers to the banking industry. His technical background is more than 20 years of experience in computers and software. He describes himself as a news and information advocate, with a focus on technology and health. Larry values the beauty and rewards of people being connected.

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