In accordance with Supreme Court decisions the Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations redefining terms relating to marital status.  The rules reflect the Supreme Court’s landmark rulings in the 2015 case of Obergefell v. Hodges and the 2013 case of Windsor v. U.S. that legalized same-sex marriage in every state and invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act.

Previously issues existed regarding the use for federal tax purposes of terms such as spouse, husband, wife and husband and wife and whether they applied to an individual married to a person of the same sex.

The new rules amend the regulations under IRC §7701 to provide that, for federal tax purposes, the terms spouse, husband and wife mean an individual lawfully married to another individual regardless of sex.  The term husband and wife is defined as two individuals lawfully married to each other regardless of sex.

It’s interesting to note the term marriage excludes registered domestic partnerships and civil unions recognized under state law that are not denominated as a marriage under that state’s law.  As a result the terms spouse, husband and wife do not include individuals who have entered into such a relationship.