One of the things I try to impress upon readers requires a slight mental shift. Namely, I encourage you to view any governmental policy or tax law change with a slightly different eye. You’re reading IRS e-News anyway, so read it with an eye for uncovering new marketing opportunities.
In case you missed IR-2013-72 last Thursday, the IRS is now going to treat all same-sex couples that were legally married in a jurisdiction where the marriage was lawful as married for all federal tax purposes, regardless of where that couple now resides.
This recognition, in response to the Supreme Court case in which certain provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act were struck down, even applies to same-sex marriages performed in foreign countries.
Now I realize that you may have a very strong personal belief about the same-sex marriage issue. Heck, I’m sure more than one person has already quit reading in disgust, and that’s their perogative. But if you’re still reading, this is something you can possibly capitalize on in your practice.
In terms of policy changes or tax law changes over the course of the past two years, I consider this to be only the third seriously significant, massive marketing opportunity that such changes have created. Last year, of course, came the Fresh Start initiative and the associated changes to Streamline Installment Agreements and the calculation of RCP on Offers in Compromise. The start of 2013 brought us the Fiscal Cliff situation and resulting legislation. The marketing opportunity created by this latest policy change is just as profound.
Finding data on the number of legally married same-sex couples in America was actually difficult. Reuters reports a number of about 130,000, and CNN gives us a 150,000 figure. More states have recently legalized this, and it is quite likely that more states will also do so in the coming years. Add in the unknown number of foreign same-sex marriages, particularly Americans that have visited Canada for this purpose, and the number becomes quite large, and will continue to grow.
Regardless of your own orientation, there is a huge market opportunity here, particularly for folks in either large cities or much more politically liberal cities. I imagine that any community large enough to have a local LGBT publication or business directory is going to be big enough for a tax practitioner to capitalize on the IRS same-sex marriage decision.
Practitioners that choose to … Continue reading