In 2012, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was struck down as unconstitutional by a number of federal courts across the country. On Dec. 7, 2012, the Supreme Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari in Windsor v. United States,1 and the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on March 27, 2013. While the Supreme Court has yet to rule on DOMA and the federal government continues to comply with it, given the current case law, same-sex married persons are already able to take the position on their tax returns that DOMA is unconstitutional.
The Status of DOMA
The Defense of Marriage Act, enacted in 1996, states, in relevant part, that in "determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word ‘marriage’ means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word ‘spouse’ refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or wife."2
