Jefferson City, Mo. – Missouri’s Governor will issue an executive order that the state’s revenue department will accept all jointly-filed state tax returns from all legally married couples, including same sex couples who are legally married in another state.
This, despite a ban on marriage equality in Missouri’s constitution.
“Missouri is one of a number of states whose tax code is directly tied to that of the federal government and under Missouri law, legally married couples who file joint federal tax returns with the IRS must also file joint state returns with our state Department of Revenue,” Gov. Nixon said in an announcement on his website. “As a result, accepting the jointly-filed state tax returns of all legally-married couples who file federal returns is the only appropriate course of action, given Missouri statutes and the ruling by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.”
The website post explains that Missouri is following its own rules about tax filing as they apply under federal law. Based on the June ruling by the Supreme Court invalidating DOMA, the U.S. Dept. of the Treasure and the IRS ruled in August that legally married gay couples would be treated as married for federal tax purposes, regardless of where that same sex couple lives. Missouri tax law states that couples filing a federal tax return should file a joint return, and Missouri tax law should be applied “as when used in a comparable context in the laws of the United States relating to federal income taxes.”
Gov. Nixon did mention that his executive order only applies to taxes and does not in any way legalize marriage equality in Missouri.
