Why NCCPAP Needs Your Help Now
As many of you know, the Supreme Court decided that treating same-sex spouses as unmarried is unconstitutional because, under federal law, it deprives same-sex spouses the protection given to heterosexual married couples. From a tax standpoint this will impact small CPA firms and our clients specifically for two main reasons: all states do not recognize same sex marriages and, on a federal level, there aren't clear guidelines as to how this affects individual income tax returns.
This is why NCCPAP plans to issue a letter to: the Tax Commissioners in every state where NCCPAP has a chapter, the new head of the IRS and possibly Senators & Representatives. As CPAs beholden to a standard of ethics and the law, we strive to do the best for our clients. Without clear direction on tax issues that are arising regarding same-sex spouses, it places an extreme burden on CPAs across the country, not to mention the clients we serve.
We need your help gathering information on two fronts:
1. We need case studies on real issues you've already encountered with your same-sex partner clients to help paint a picture of the arising dilemmas CPAs will be facing in this upcoming tax season.
2. Even if you don't have a case study, we want your opinion on what you feel are the most important tax issues with which the IRS, Congress and the states need to be in agreement as we begin to prepare 2013 tax returns.
We encourage you to post some of your thoughts on our blog to share with our community and/or email Alexis Burd (alexis@bluegreenwords.com), our external PR representative, who is helping us manage this letter campaign. Alexis will be gathering our collective thoughts and case studies and presenting them to our country's leadership; raising awareness of the depth and scope of problems that will arise if something is not done.
Kindly submit your contribution NO LATER THAN SATURDAY AUGUST 31st (Midnight).