Plaintiffs are trying to prevent same-sex couples from filing combined state income tax returns.
On Jan. 8, the ACLU of Missouri filed a motion for Scott Emmanuel and Ed Reggi to intervene as party defendants; an amended petition was filed on Feb. 7, 2014. Mr. Emmanuel and Mr. Reggi are a married couple and must file their federal tax returns for 2013 as married. The plaintiffs in this case seek to prevent lawfully married couples of the same sex who file a joint federal income tax return from filing a combined state income tax return, as would be required under Missouri law. On March 28, 2014, the judge granted the ACLU's motion to intervene.
On April 4, Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetm denied the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order. “Missourians are fair and reasonable people and never intended to cause the kind of harm families would experience if they could not file combined tax returns in their home state,” said Tony Rothert, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri. “We are gratified that the court’s decision found that there is no harm to some Missourians when other married couples file a combined state income tax return.”
“Missouri has never been in the business of investigating people’s marriages when they file combined tax returns and now is no time to start,” said Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri. “This case is nothing more than an effort by the plaintiffs to go out of their way to harm loving families.”