by the Brightmine Editorial Team
Under federal law and the law of every state that has an income tax, the value of certain benefits offered by an employer to an employee’s spouse in a lawful marriage, regardless of gender, and their eligible dependents is not subject to federal income or FICA (Social Security and Medicare) tax withholding. However, the same blanket rule does not apply to those in civil unions and domestic partnerships.
Federal law does not recognize civil unions or domestic partnerships as “marriages,” regardless of the partners’ gender, and all benefits provided to partners of employees in such relationships are fully taxable and subject to withholding, unless the partner qualifies as the employee’s “dependent” for tax purposes. However, some states do provide income tax benefits for partners and dependents of employees in same-sex civil unions or domestic partnerships.
The following chart summarizes state laws regarding the tax treatment of the value of benefits provided by an employer to an employee’s same-sex civil union or domestic partnership partner (and their dependents). States that do not have an income tax are indicated on the chart with “N/A.”
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About the author
The Brightmine Editorial Team
Our in-house team of HR experts carefully monitors and updates the Brightmine HR & Compliance Center, the most comprehensive library of employment law and HR resources. This team has an unrivaled wealth of subject matter expertise, with an average of 15 years’ experience. They also bring invaluable, diverse career experiences to the table—the team includes seasoned employment law attorneys, former in-house counsel, SHRM certified professionals and career employment law editors.
In addition to managing the HR & Compliance Center, the Editorial Team supports the content across the Brightmine product portfolio. The Team also supports Marketing Resource Center with breaking HR news, Commentary and Insights, and expert review of key compliance resources, such as our free charts.