McCollum and Ellison ask IRS to clarify rules for gay taxpayers

WASHINGTON - Twin Cities members of Congress Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison want the Internal Revenue Service to make doing taxes easier for gay and lesbian taxpayers.

The two DFLers and 72 other House members (all Democrats except for one Republican) have written IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman asking the agency to clarify issues such as community property rights for same-sex couples.

"These couples face significant complexity in filing even the most simple of returns, often resulting in improper enforcement action by the Internal Revenue Service," according to a copy of the letter.

While 15 states fully recognize same-sex unions and four others provide some recognition, under the federal Defense of Marriage Act those couples don't receive equivalent treatment for their federal taxes.

This isn't the only piece of DOMA-related news from the Minnesota delegation this week. On Wednesday, DFL Rep. Tim Walz signed on a co-sponsor of a Democratic bill to repeal DOMA.

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