DEATH & TAXES

LGBT Married Couples Can Use TurboTax To Take Back What The DOMA Stole

tax_demon_rainbowWill you forgive us if we interrupt your holiday cheer with a reminder that tax season is right around the corner? Ugh.

And while we may be quickly winning the freedom to marry, one state at a time, we’re still a long way away from tax equality. The patchwork of laws, hasty IRS revisions and general cultural newness of marriage are all conspiring to make taxes a kind of pain that straight people will never experience.

Helpfully, though, TurboTax is doing their best to guide you through the process. One of the most difficult parts of LGBT taxation is figuring out if you should revise your back-taxes and re-file as married. It’s a lot of work, but revising old tax returns could mean significant savings for some couples. And now, TurboTax just announced a new “lookback” tool that lets you examine your past returns and decide whether they need a re-do.

If you were married in 2010, 2011 or 2012 but filed as a single person (because you had to), TurboTax will collect a few data points and show you the return you would’ve gotten if you’d filed as married. If it’s a big difference, TurboTax would also be delighted to sell you tax products to help you re-file.

And starting this year, married LGBT couples are actually required to file as married. So at last we can tell the world the truth about who we are! And also maybe collect a check from the government, thank you very much.

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