A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation helping bring financial equality to same-sex married couples. 

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine reintroduced the Refund Equality Act on Thursday, the 10-year anniversary of the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court ruling, which legalized marriage equality as a constitutional right. 

The act would allow married same-sex couples to amend tax returns dating back to when they were married, which would help them secure about $55 million in refunds, according a 2021 report by the Joint Committee on Taxation and cited by the senators. 

The reintroduced bill would:

• Allow same-sex couples who were married in jurisdictions that recognized same-sex marriage before 2013 – including Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington, D.C – to file for income tax adjustments for those years, back to the date of their marriage.
• Create exceptions for two tax code limitations: One that gives married couples three years to begin filing jointly after their most recent separate returns, and another, which requires a claim for tax credits or refunds to be filed within three years of the initial return.
• Create exemptions that include adjustments to capital loss carryback and adjustments for retired service members who receive an award of disability compensation.

The bill is being reintroduced alongside Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden’s Equal Dignity for Married Taxpayers Act, which Senator Warren co-sponsors. That legislation would protect LGBTQ+ Americans from inequality and discrimination by removing gender-specific references to marriage in the tax code.

Warren’s office said that the legislation will be packaged together and reintroduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, a Democrat from California, as part of the PRIDE Act. 

Warren’s office also notes that the Democrat had originally introduced the act back in 2017 with more than 70 colleagues in Congress.

“No one should ever have to pay more in taxes because of who they love,” Warren said in a statement. “I’m fighting to reverse this discrimination and get couples the refunds they are owed.”

Collins echoed the sentiment in a statement.

“For years, legally married same-sex couples were not allowed to file joint tax returns and missed out on refunds they otherwise would have received,” Collins said. She added that the bipartisan bill would be a “practical step of giving those couples the opportunity to file amended returns and receive the full refunds they are entitled to.”

Chu brought up the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision, which forced the federal government to recognize marriage equality in the states where it was legal at the time. At the center of the case was widow Edie Windsor’s challenge that she and her late wife should have had the same financial benefits as opposite-sex couples. 

“For years, same-sex married couples were denied the ability to file taxes jointly and claim tax refunds they had rightfully earned because of the Defense of Marriage Act. Twelve years ago, the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision corrected this injustice, but IRS rules about amending tax returns have prevented these couples from claiming all of the refunds they should have earned,” Chu said. “The PRIDE Act would finally address this by enabling same-sex couples to rightfully claim the tax refunds they deserve as well as update the tax code to promote dignity and equality by erasing gendered language of husband and wife that leaves out same-sex couples. This Pride Month, I am proud to join with my House and Senate colleagues in introducing this pro-equality legislation.”

Wyden said the legislation is needed as attempts to erode marriage equality increase by some conservative lawmakers. 

“The right to marry whoever you love may be recognized as the law of the land, but the work toward true equality is far from over,” Senator Wyden said. “The opponents of marriage equality are working to roll back the clock on the progress we’ve made in recent years and decades. That’s all the more reason to root out the remnants of discrimination from the laws on the books, including in our tax code.”