Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts and 2020 presidential hopeful, has shown up yet again to prove her loyalty and advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ community. This time, as reported by NBC News, the senator has introduced legislation called the Refund Equality Act. What does this involve? In short: Giving same-sex couples back the (sometimes enormous) amount of money they are owed.
First, some historical context. In 2013, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was repealed, thanks to U.S. v.Windsor. Wonderful! Prior to this repeal, one problem (of many) for married same-sex couples was that they could not receive the same tax breaks as opposite-sex couples. This included when it came to filing joint returns. So for example, this led to many couples not receiving the tax returns they would have received if (with all things were otherwise consistent) they had been in an opposite-sex marriage.
Before DOMA was repealed, same-sex couples could legally marry in ten states. In some states, they could have been married (on the state level) for more than three years, which is important. Why? Because at the time DOMA was repealed, the IRS said married same-sex couples could file back up to three years. But that left many couples with money unfairly lost. Warren’s legislation would fix that.
Let’s look at the details another way. The Refund Equality Act would give married same-sex couples the chance to get that money back by applying for tax refunds from the IRS. These tax breaks are no small amount, either. For example, while single filers have a standard deduction of $12,200, married couples who file jointly can go up to $24,400, as of 2019. There are also wider income brackets for married couples who file jointly.
"The federal government forced legally married same-sex couples in Massachusetts to file as individuals and pay more in taxes for almost a decade," Elizabeth Warren said in a statement on Thursday. "We need to call out that discrimination and to make it right — Congress should pass the Refund Equality Act immediately."
Couples who were in same-sex marriages before the repeal of DOMA could get up to $57 million in tax refunds, as concluded in a report released by the Joint Committee on Taxation last Tuesday. Mind you, not every couple would get money back, as it truly depends on how much the people in question earn. In fact, there are instances where the couple would owe. Which is, obviously, also the case for opposite-sex couples.
As some background, this isn’t the first time Warren has advocated on behalf of this issue. She also sponsored the Refund Equality Act in 2017. In that case, the legislation called for the IRS to amend codes for same-sex couples who were married before DOMA’s repeal.
Semi-related, Rep. Judy Chu, a Democrat from California, proposed a comparable law in the House Committee on Ways and Means in early June.