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Showing results for tags 'heath coverage'.
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I hope that BenefitsLinks smart practitioners will help me think through some practical questions. A few States have issued some guidance about tax-reporting for same-sex spouses. Nebraska http://www.revenue.nebraska.gov/question/same-sex_FAQ.html North Carolina http://www.dornc.com/faq/ssmarriage_faq.html Ohio http://www.tax.ohio.gov/Portals/0/communications/information_releases/DOMA_EWH_InforRelease11142013.pdf Wisconsin http://www.revenue.wi.gov/faqs/ise/samesex.html#samesex1 Some of these documents suggest that the amount an employer reports as its employees wages for State income tax purposes must add the amount that is the fair-market value of health coverage provided to the employees spouse if the spouse, even if recognized as a spouse for Federal taxes, is not recognized as a spouse under the States constitution or statute. If followed, this would result in different wage amounts for Federal and State (and locality) tax purposes. (As a Pennsylvania and Philadelphia resident, I know that there can be other kinds of differences between Federal, State, and locality wages.) And it asks an employer to estimate a fair-market value for something that has no market. What proxy or method should an employer use to estimate the value of the coverage attributable to the spouse? If an employer fails to do this reporting (and a States tax agency detects that the employer didnt do it), do you think that a State will be aggressive or lax in its enforcement efforts? Why? If an employer cant settle (with little or no money, and a sin no more pledge) a States enforcement effort, will a State really take this to litigation?
