Equal Dignity for Married Taxpayers Act of 2025
Sponsored By: Senator Ron Wyden
Introduced
Summary
Establishes gender-neutral tax treatment for legally married same-sex couples. It would replace hundreds of gendered words in the Internal Revenue Code so tax filing, credits, deductions, elections, reporting, estate and gift rules operate the same for legally married same-sex couples as for other married taxpayers.
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- Families: Legally married same-sex couples would have identical access to joint returns, survivor returns, tax elections, credits, deductions, exclusions, and reporting rules as other married couples.
- Estates and gifts: Spousal gift and estate provisions would be rewritten to recognize transfers between married individuals without gender bias. Rules that treat certain third-party gifts as made one-half by each spouse would be preserved.
- Community property states: Community income would be clarified as owned or treated by the married couple as a unit rather than assigned by gender.
- Tax administration: Cross-references, titles, and definitions across the Code would be updated so calculations and eligibility work consistently for married couples regardless of gender.
- Judicial language: Separate editorial edits would replace pronouns in a judicial rules section to clarify references to judges or special trial judges without changing policy.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Gift-splitting rule for married donors
If enacted, a gift made by one spouse to someone other than the spouse would be treated as one-half made by each spouse for gift tax purposes. This would apply only if both spouses were U.S. citizens or residents when the gift was made. The rule would not apply if the donor gave the spouse a general power of appointment over the gift. An individual counts as the spouse only if married at the time of the gift and not remarrying that calendar year.
More filing options for married couples
If enacted, a person who filed a separate federal return could later file a joint return with their spouse even after the filing deadline. Payments, credits, refunds, and other tax items from the separate returns would be counted when figuring the joint tax. If one spouse is dead, an executor could file the late joint return. The bill would also clarify that references to a "spouse" can be read as "former spouse" where spouses are divorced. And it would preserve the total foreign earned income exclusion available when foreign-earned amounts are community income under state law.
Married owners counted as one
If enacted, married couples who own stock or partnership interests could be treated as one owner for some tax rules. This would apply when the interest is community property or held as joint tenants, tenants by the entirety, or tenants in common. Married spouses (and their estates) could count as one partner for partner-count rules. A married couple could also be treated as one person for certain below-market loan interest rules, but that loan rule would not apply if the spouses lived apart all year. The bill would also recognize a spouse who succeeds to a living spouse's business as a successor for the cited tax treatment.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Ron Wyden
OR • D
Cosponsors
Susan Collins
ME • R
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Elizabeth Warren
MA • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
John Reed
RI • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Jeanne Shaheen
NH • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Kirsten Gillibrand
NY • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Alex Padilla
CA • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
John Hickenlooper
CO • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Christopher Coons
DE • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Elissa Slotkin
MI • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Edward Markey
MA • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Mark Kelly
AZ • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Jeff Merkley
OR • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Maria Cantwell
WA • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Tammy Duckworth
IL • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Lisa Blunt Rochester
DE • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Timothy Kaine
VA • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Tina Smith
MN • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Chris Van Hollen
MD • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Michael Bennet
CO • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Catherine Cortez Masto
NV • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Cory Booker
NJ • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Martin Heinrich
NM • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Sheldon Whitehouse
RI • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Jacky Rosen
NV • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Andy Kim
NJ • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Patty Murray
WA • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Adam Schiff
CA • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Richard Blumenthal
CT • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Peter Welch
VT • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Angus King
ME • I
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Tammy Baldwin
WI • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
John Fetterman
PA • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Mark Warner
VA • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Bernie Sanders
VT • I
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Gary Peters
MI • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Richard Durbin
IL • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Mazie Hirono
HI • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Charles Schumer
NY • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Angela Alsobrooks
MD • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Amy Klobuchar
MN • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Brian Schatz
HI • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Christopher Murphy
CT • D
Sponsored 6/26/2025
Jon Ossoff
GA • D
Sponsored 7/16/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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