Gay Couples Can't File Joint Returns in D.C.

WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia Tax and Revenue Office ruled Tuesday that same-sex couples married in Massachusetts could not file joint tax returns here, averting a showdown with conservatives in Congress who had said they might review the city's budget if the decision went the other way.

The tax office based its decision on the federal Defense of Marriage Act, passed in 1996, that defines marriage as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife." Federal law -- including the Internal Revenue Code -- has used that definition of marriage since the measure was passed.

In a four-page ruling, the city's chief financial officer, Natwar M. Gandhi, ruled that because a same-sex couple could not file a joint federal tax return, the couple could not file a joint district return.

Edward G. Horvath and Richard G. Neidich, who were legally married in Massachusetts in June after 24 years together, had sought a 2004 filing extension while they awaited the tax office's decision.

"If you live here in D.C., you get used to being crushed," Horvath said Tuesday. "We have so few rights, and we're under the thumb of federal policies in ways people don't even know."

City Atty. Gen. Robert J. Spagnoletti had told Horvath and Neidich that they could file a joint return in Washington "if they hold a good-faith belief that they are a validly married couple under the laws of Massachusetts" -- pending a decision from the Office of Tax and Revenue.

That announcement kicked up warnings from Congress about the financial consequences for the city if it used the tax code to grant rights to same-sex couples.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), head of an appropriations subcommittee that has oversight of the city's budget, issued a warning to Mayor Anthony A. Williams and Gandhi at a recent committee hearing.

"I was hopeful we weren't going to be confronting this issue. But it appears there will need to be a review and a discussion," Brownback said, prompting speculation that he intended to scrutinize Washington's budget should the tax office accept the joint filing.

A spokesman for Brownback declined to clarify the comment.

Horvath said he understood its meaning. "He's threatened to starve D.C. to death for social issues," he said. "If a tax filing prompts this type of threat, anything can set the man off."