H&R Block Denies Online Tax Prep for Civil Unions  | News | Advocate.com

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March 26, 2008
H&R Block Denies Online Tax Prep for Civil Unions

The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to tax specialists H&R Block on Tuesday, demanding the company change its online tax preparation system to accommodate Connecticut gay couples in civil unions, according to an ACLU press release.

Jason Smith of Hartford, Conn., attempted to file with his partner of six years, Settimio Pisu, in January, but they were told to prepare their forms in person or by phone because the website does not include a form for civil unions.

The letter that ACLU staff attorney Rebecca Shore sent to H&R Block says the company is in violation of Connecticut antidiscrimination laws by failing to provide civil union couples the option of filing their taxes online, as it does for married couples. Filing federal and local taxes with a specialist would cost Pisu and Smith $199.80.

"This is yet another example of the many ways that civil unions just don't live up to marriage," Smith said in the release. "We're saving for a house and hoping to start a family, so every penny counts right now."

Denies Sposato, a spokesperson for H&R Block, told The Advocate that the company was in the process of evaluating adding domestic partner support to the online tax preparation program.

"This is an industry-wide issue affecting TaxCut and our competitors, resulting from the federal government not recognizing the domestic-partner filing status," she said in an email. "With an online tax program, whatever the filing status is on the federal return is automatically deployed to the state return."

Users who are registered domestic partners or in civil unions are asked to work with a tax professional because interaction enables them to prepare several tax returns simultaneously, which Sposato said is a feature that is not currently available with any online tax programs.

"In addition," she said, "we offer Online Office that enables users to access one of our tax professionals for tax return preparation from the comfort of their home. We believe these options offer a straightforward and accurate method to serve the Connecticut domestic-partner filers."

The civil union law has been in effect in the state for nearly three years, according to ACLU Connecticut's Andrew Schneider, who asserts that companies aren't taking the law seriously. "There is no excusable reason why the company that likes to claim it’s the world’s largest tax services provider shouldn't make its products available to everyone."

According to the ACLU, the tax requirements for Connecticut couples in civil unions are similar to the requirements for same-sex married couples in nearby Massachusetts, for whom H&R Block makes provisions. (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)

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