A reader writes:
DOMA is a tax nightmare. If you want to simplify people's taxes, repeal it and let states define marriage as they always have in the past.
The article you linked to did not mention that some businesses now keep two sets of books: one for state taxes, the other for federal taxes. The companies need to keep track of which deductions they can take in the state that are not allowed at the federal level. It creates a silly amount of accounting that lines the pockets of the Big Four accounting firms and pretty much no one else.
Tax law scholar Pat Cain noted at an ABA Tax meeting in D.C. last year that some same-sex couples are filing joint returns against the rules. Since the IRS computers do not check for gender in determining your refund, some same-sex couples are receiving joint refunds illegally. No one would be any wiser unless one of those couples gets audited. In that case, the IRS could issue a notice of deficiency to the couple stating they owe more tax because they never should have received the joint refund.
With that notice of deficiency, the couple could petition the U.S. Tax Court for review of the IRS's determination and base their case on the unconstitutionality of DOMA. If that happened, you could see a Tax Court judge ruling on DOMA's constitutionality. It is unclear whether the Obama administration would instruct the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, which represents the IRS in Tax Court (a.k.a. Bachmannn's former employer), not to defend DOMA as it did with DOJ.