The Williams Institute & Center for American Progress: Unequal Taxes on Equal Benefits: The Taxation of Domestic Partner Benefits
Public policy encourages employers to provide health insurance by exempting that form of compensation from taxation. As a result, married workers who get family health insurance benefits get a double benefit—they get health insurance coverage for their spouses and children and are not taxed on the value of that coverage. In sharp contrast, workers who have an unmarried domestic partner are doubly burdened: Their employers typically do not provide coverage for domestic partners; and even when partners are covered, the partner’s coverage is taxed as income to the employee.
- Report: "Unequal Taxes on Equal Benefits: The Taxation of Domestic Partner Benefits" [PDF] [www.americanprogress.org]
Panel discussion on "Unequal Taxes on Equal Benefits: The Taxation of Domestic Partner Benefits"
Featuring M. V. Lee Badgett, Research Director, Williams Institute; Janet C. Boyd, Director of Government Relations, Tax and Benefits, The Dow Chemical Company; Jayme White, Legislative Director, Rep. Jim McDermott. Moderated by Winnie Stachelberg, Senior Vice President for External Affairs, Center for American Progress.
- Watch the video online: "Unequal Taxes on Equal Benefits" [streaming video] [www.americanprogress.org]
running time: 90 minutes
