The following notice was provided by the State of Illinois Department of Central Management Services (“CMS”):
“Recently, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) ruled that same-sex couples, legally married in jurisdictions that recognize same-sex marriages, will be treated as married for federal income tax purposes. The ruling applies even if the couple resides in a state that does not recognize same-sex marriages, such as Illinois. CMS will soon be updating the Civil Union Partner & Domestic Partner FAQs on the Benefits website soon to reflect this change.
NOTE: This ruling does not impact all civil union partnerships. Opposite sex civil union partnerships are not impacted nor are same-sex civil union partnerships that do not have an underlying marriage license.
The Ruling:
- Members who provide a same-sex marriage certificate from a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriage are eligible to cover their spouse for group insurance purposes, are eligible for pretax premium deductions and will not be subjected to imputed income. A complete list of states, countries and other jurisdictions that recognize same-sex marriage is provided at the end of this notice.
- This ruling, which becomes effective September 16, 2013, is considered a qualifying change in status which will allow the same changes to coverage that a new marriage would, i.e. adding the spouse, adding stepchildren, opting out of or enrolling in the program, etc. If the member is already married, any enrollment change request must be made within 60 days of September 16, 2013, to be permitted. The effective date will be the date of the request or September 16, whichever is later. For any subsequent marriages, the normal 60-day rule will apply.
- The IRS has indicated that legally married same-sex couples are allowed to file amended tax returns for tax years 2010, 2011 and 2012. It is through these amendments that members can receive credit for any taxes they paid on imputed income during those years.”
All employees who are legally married and wish to cover a spouse must provide documentation of the marriage when adding the spouse to their health insurance coverage. If you are currently covering a same-sex domestic partner or civil union partner on your CMS health insurance, and you have a valid same-sex marriage certificate from another state, country or jurisdiction, then you will need to submit a copy of the marriage certificate and a paper Group Insurance Enrollment form to the UPB-Benefits Service office. The “same-sex spouse” relationship change will eliminate imputed income. After receiving your marriage documentation, any children receiving coverage as a ‘civil union child’ will change to a ‘stepchild’. Employees will receive a CMS verification form reflecting these changes.
CMS will send a letter to anyone who has a same-sex civil union or domestic partner on their coverage asking them to send a copy of the marriage certificate if they were married in another state. Please provide a copy (not the original) of the marriage certificate to UPB-Benefits Services via fax, mail, or in-person at:
Benefits Services at Urbana-Champaign
506 S. Wright Street
Room 177 HAB MC-318
Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: 217-333-3111
Fax: 217-244-3135
Benefits Services at Chicago
809 S. Marshfield Ave 1st Floor MC-547
Chicago, IL 60612-7205
Phone: 312-996-6471
Fax: 312-996-5733
Benefits Services at Springfield
Human Resources Building, Room 18
One University Plaza, MS HRB 18
Springfield, IL 62703-5407
Phone: 217-206-7144
Fax: 217-206-7010
Jurisdictions which recognize same-sex marriages include:
- Rhode Island (August 1, 2013)
- Minnesota (August 1, 2013)
- Delaware (July 1, 2013)
- Maryland (January 1, 2013)
- Maine (December 7, 2012)
- Washington (December 5, 2012)
- New York State (July 24, 2011)
- New Hampshire (January 1, 2010)
- Connecticut (Civil Union Partners allowed October 1, 2005 through September 30, 2010. Civil Unions merged into marriages October 1, 2010)
- District of Columbia (March 3, 2010)
- Vermont (September 1, 2009)
- Coquille Nation, Oregon (May 20, 2009)
- Iowa (April 24, 2009)
- Massachusetts (May 17, 2004)
- California (May 15, 2008 through November 4, 2008 and since June 26, 2013)
- These countries: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Uruguay and New Zealand
