The IRS issued proposed regulations implementing recent Supreme Court decisions about same-sex marriages. The proposed regulations amend IRS rules to require that for federal tax purposes, any mention of marriage indicating sex, such as “husband” and “wife” include both same-sex and opposite-sex spouses. These terms would be interpreted to mean an individual lawfully married to another individual. The regulations also would provide that a marriage of two individuals will be recognized for federal tax purposes if the marriage would be recognized by any state, possession or territory of the United States.
Once finalized, these regulations would implement for federal tax purposes the recent Windsor and Obergefell decisions.