Tax Advisory Panel:

I am a gay man in a long-term relationship with another man, and we have
3 five-year-old children who are biologically related to both of us
(they are triplets born of a single egg donor; some are products of his
sperm and some are products of mine). My partner stays at home to raise
the children while I work. In every way but one we are a typical
traditional family living in the suburbs.

The current tax system does not give our children the same rights as
children whose parents are of opposite sex. It does not afford my
partner and me the same tax benefits as any other couple that is legally
permitted to marry.

My partner is totally dependent upon me for income and yet I am not
permitted to claim him as a dependent. I am not permitted to give him
money (except as a gift which is subject to yearly and lifetime
restrictions) since our finances are legally separate. We cannot even
own our home together, like every husband and wife are permitted to,
since the bank will not allow him to be on the deed unless he can afford
the mortgage, which of course he can't because he is not earning a wage.
From the law's point of view, he is destitute.

My partner and I are legally strangers. If I die he would not be
entitled to the Social Security survivor benefits that I have been
paying in to for decades. Any money he inherits will be taxed, unlike a
husband and wife where the money flows tax-free from one to the other in
the event of death. Whom does this hurt? Our minor children. If I die
our children will have part of their inheritance taken from them simply
because their parents are not different sexes.

We have had to spend thousands of dollars to try to ensure that we have
*some* of the legal protections and advantages that people who marry get
automatically and for free. We have Wills and Trusts and insurance
policies all designed to get around the fact that the legal system
treats us as strangers.

Our children will suffer because the Federal government does not legally
recognize their parents' relationship. Should one of us die, his
non-biological children will not receive any Social Security benefits.
In addition, the non-biological children might be subject to a custody
fight if the deceased family decides to challenge the survivor's right
to raise them.

The tax system is designed for people who marry and raise children, to
protect the spouse who does not earn a wage but stays home to do the
best possible job of raising the children, and to protect the children.
Why are children of heterosexual families worthy of these protections,
but not the children of homosexual families? Why is my partner, who gave
up his career to raise our children, not deserving of the same
protections as a female in the same position would be?

Finally, why is my family subject to additional taxes at the same time
we are denied benefits?

Sincerely,

Charles Basner

<chasbas@tipsinc.com>

\-\-\-\--Original Message\-\-\-\--

From: Charles Basner
\[[[mailto:chasbas@tipsinc.com]{.underline}](mailto:chasbas@tipsinc.com)\]

Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 2:05 PM

To: comments

Cc: field@hrc.org

Subject: Comments on tax unfairness

See attached document