Can same-sex couples who are legally married in another state file a joint return tax return in Maryland?

Generally, each resident and each nonresident of this state shall use the same filing status used on their federal income tax return, or the same filing status as if the individual had been required to file a federal income tax return.

In his opinion on February 23rd, 2010, 95 Opp. Att'y Gen. 3, Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler stated that a Maryland agency may address the recognition of out-of-state marriages on particular matters within that agency's jurisdiction, so long as the agency's action is consistent with any relevant statutes, including federal laws that may govern the agency's activities.

The Comptroller is governed by federal laws in the activity of Maryland state income taxation, pursuant to Section 10-107 of the Tax-General Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, which provides: To the extent practicable, the Comptroller shall apply the administrative and judicial interpretations of federal income tax law to the administration of the income tax laws of this State. This is made clear in Code of Maryland Regulations 03.04.02.02 and .03 that each resident shall use the same filing status on his or her state income tax return as he or she uses to file the federal income tax return.

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service does not allow same-sex spouses to file joint federal income tax returns, because the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, Public Law 104-199, defined marriage as "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word 'spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife."