Same-Sex Couple Blocked By H & R -- Gays and Lesbians, Tolland ...

[Dan]

Hopefully this will be resolved, but I'm not sure why anyone (gay or straight) pays for tax services. Civil unions (or similar arrangements) exist in 4 states, don't they?(CA, NJ, VT, CT.) And for tax filing, Massachusetts same-sex marriages probably are handled similarly.

H&R should probably fix their "we don't support civil unions" error message.

I gave up on TurboTax a couple of years ago because its support of a very small percentage of filers--namely, those from my state!--was so weak.

Links to state documentation didn't work. Advice on certain federal deductions was so conservative as to contradict IRS publications. Their claim that the cost of the software was deductible wasn't borne out due to various constraints. They probably claimed "deductible within the guidelines of federal law" which was technically true.

I do them on paper now. Federal government wants me to pay to e-file? Fine, I'll send it in for free on paper and make them do more work. My state also has a free online filing service for state income tax, so after working it out on paper, I retype it all in that way.

It's refreshing to do one's own taxes from start to finish. I realize that's impractical for some people with complicated financial situations--and I'm sure that gay couples face such situations more than usual given the head-in-the-sand approach of our federal government.

Civil Unions would be fine with me if they were truly equal...but separate is never really equal.

[Dan]

Oops, I meant to say I gave up on the TurboTax software on CD. I've never used their online service so can't critique it either way.

[The Thinking Man]

LGBTI BOYCOTT CALL wrote:

<quoted text>
That would be "separate but equal" which is a form of conditional equality.
In civil rights issues such as this, history tells us "separate but equal" doesn't work.
What DOES work is unconditional equality for each and every Citizen of the United States.

It's really not worth arguing about, but you're wrong. Shopping for a product is not a civil rights issue. However it would be if they refused to let someone shop in the store. My idea is not "separate". Notice I did not use the word "only".

Let me use an analogy:
Let's say I'm really fat. I go to an upscale store to buy clothes for my overfed body. The storekeeper will try to politely inform me that they don't have any clothes big enough to fit me.(I need to go to the fat guy clothes store.) It's not my fault. Its genetics. Is that discrimination of the store?

So many people are blinded by their own beliefs they can't see the truth. Ugh!

[JBF]

name_here wrote:

<quoted text>

Civil unions (or similar arrangements) exist in 4 states, don't they?(CA, NJ, VT, CT.)

Post #72 http://www.topix.net/forum/source/hartford-co...

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New Hampshire started civil unions in 2008.

Here's a list of states that offer civil unions, as of today:

* Vermont (2000),
* California (2000/2005),
* Connecticut (2005),
* New Jersey (2007),
* New Hampshire (2008)

[JBF]

Dan wrote:

<quoted text>

Civil Unions would be fine with me if they were truly equal...but separate is never really equal.

Post #72 http://www.topix.net/forum/source/hartford-co...

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Civil unions do NOT confer all the same rights and responsiblitiles. There still is separate and unequal treatment.

Gays and lesbians are NOT receiving the SAME benefits, protections and responsibilities as married opposite-sex couples. Unequal treatment is arising in areas such as insurance, taxation, pensions, medical care and so on.

Adding the word "marriage" will stop this separate and unequal treatment.

--------

Gay Couples Say Civil Unions Aren’t Enough
By ALISON LEIGH COWAN
Published March 17, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/nyregion/17...

Gay couples learn that union isn't the same as marriage
By SARAH LIEBOWITZ
Published May 6, 2007
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...

2 Months After New Jersey’s Civil Union Law, Problems Finding True Equality
By Tina Kelley
Published April 13, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/13/nyregion/13...

Same-sex couples deal with obstacles of civil unions
By Associated Press
Published April 15, 2007
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjer...

[bob]

oh boo hoo and whaah,
so these sick people can't get everything they want. Just wait 20 or so years from now they will be demanding the bible be rewriten to better suit gays. All this pandering makes me puck. If they are really born that way I am sure there can be a pill made to fix that defect

[Uphold the Law]

LGBTI BOYCOTT CALL wrote:

<quoted text>
The Kinsey Institute was aware of your concerns. After Dr. Kinsey's death in 1956, the Kinsey Institute reran the surveys to determine the accuracy of Dr. Kinsey's work.
They found Dr. Kinsey's surveys to be 4% more conservative than the new studies. They attributed the discrepancy to the fact the in the mid-1940s people didn't talk as freely about sex as they did in the late 50s and early 60s.
For the last half-century the Kinsey Institute has been a College of Indiana University offering a Doctorate in Human Sexuality.
The Institute also provides graduate and post-graduate degrees in these schools:
American Academy, Orlando
Antioch College, NH
Cal State, Northridge
San Francisco State
Columbia University
Duke University
Ohio State
New York University
University of Hawaii
University of Iowa
University of Minnesota
University of Utah
University of Washington
Widener University
Albert Ellis Institute
Medical College of Wisconsin
Holy Cross
MIT
University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Puerto Rico
Johnson Medical School, NY
University of Rhode Island
University of Sydney, AU
Curtin Tech, Perth, AU
London School of Medicine
Instituto Mexicano
University of Quebec
University of Guelph, Canada
Univerity of Waterloo, Canada

I guess that makes everything alright. The problem with Alfred was starting with a norm of bi-sexuality. Not bad for a guy whose expertise was Gall wasps.

[Brandon]

I am so sick of everyone claiming discrimination. If Turbo Tax has the "problem solved" then use Turbo Tax. This situation would be different if H&R Block was the only company offering this service and this "couple" had nowhere else to file without paying a hefty fee. As it is they can go get service elsewhere. Why do they even want H&R Block's service if they treat gays so badly anyways? By the way, I am sure this isn't the whole story. I am willing to bet there are some regulations and tax codes (which are the most lengthy and absurd codes you will ever read) prohibiting tax service companies from offering these gays the type of filing the gay "couples" want. The companies may just be interpreting laws differently and H&R may not feel comfortable filing those types of returns.

I also love the fact that gay people refuse to accept the fact that 70% of this country (according to same sex marriage bills voting) thinks their lifestyle is wrong and immoral. That's not the 3 ton elephant in the room that no one in the media will talk about for fear of being labelled a homophobe and run out of a job.

[Uphold the Law]

One other question: Do believe that it is in the best interest of the child to have cross-generational sex with an adult partner who can introduce them to the fully sexual beings they are?

[GoalieEd]

Sticking to the *tax* issues, a civil union state return isn't as simple as flipping a switch. Federally, the US government doesn't recognize same sex joint filing, so each individual has to file a separate return.

For states that have a joint filing options with a 'partner', the state reture handles the non-recognition of the federal return in differing ways. Most, if not all, state returns start by using information from the federal return. For example, I think (but not 100% sure) that california has a 'fake' federal return prepared as a starting point for the california return.

[Cat lover]

Can I save money on my taxes if I claim my cat as a dependant? I consider him my domestic partner.

[bigtx]

These people are not and should not be entitled to any special rights. Unions and marriages are between a man and a woman. We need to move on from all of this PC rubbish and live by what is morally right and not waste our time on this.

[JBF]

bigtx wrote:

<quoted text>

These people are not and should not be entitled to any special rights.

Post #83
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/hartford-co...

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Special rights?

Seems to me fairly clear it’s the other way around.

To offer to heterosexuals and only to heterosexuals recognition and societal support for the ability to realize emotional, sexual, and spiritual fulfillment with another human being, rather obviously comprises SPECIAL HETEROSEXUAL RIGHTS.

[call me a bigot]

But if Turbotax will do their return, why can't they just use turbotax?
Why does everyone always want to sue someone?

[shoreliner]

Way IC It wrote:

<quoted text>
Everybody has a case. The lawyers make tons of $$, the "victims" a little bit of $$. In the end we ALL pay. If Adam and Steve want to live together - fine. Have a happy life, they are entitled. But the whole world
shouldn't have to,(no pun intended) bend over backwards to accomodate them. I am sick of the whole world being a victim.

You can blame the ACLU for a lot of the deterioration of morality in America and they are at it again.

Face it, the ACLU hates America.

[Shawn M Lang]

bigtx wrote:

These people are not and should not be entitled to any special rights. Unions and marriages are between a man and a woman. We need to move on from all of this PC rubbish and live by what is morally right and not waste our time on this.

According to whom?

[Randy]

Shawn M Lang wrote:

<quoted text>
According to whom?

According to me and 96% of the red blooded Americans in this country. That's who.

[Calm down already]

Great Point wrote:

<quoted text>
Exactly! It's not that H&R Block has anything against the same sex couples, it just isn't feasible for them to rewrite their software. It's not that they are just turning these people away because they don't like them!

This whole issue could have been avoided if H&R Block had simply reworded its error message to sound a little friendlier and offered to do these people's returns in person for the online price. There'd be no need to threaten lawsuits and boycotts. And the folks affected might have been a little more understanding that you can't change software overnight.(Not saying that they should have to pay more -- they should just know that software glitches are not unusual now and then.) Too bad BOTH sides weren't little more thoughtful and (dare I say?) CIVIL in this matter.

That said, I agree with the posters who said you're better off doing your taxes yourself or going to a real accountant.

[Oh boo hoo hoo]

Just use turbotax if "they have figured it out." If H&R wants money from this geographic demographic they will update the code.

[Linux Guy]

It just occurs to me, my home computers use Linux. Does this mean that Rockstar Games discriminates against me by marketing games for MS and not X flavors, or is it simply a business decision that was made because they would not recoup the investment in buyers for the Linux platform. Writing code is expensive.