Challenging the status quo, same-sex couples in India are stepping into the legal arena to contest income tax laws that unfairly tax gifts between partners.
Synopsis
Challenging the status quo, same-sex couples in India are stepping into the legal arena to contest income tax laws that unfairly tax gifts between partners. This particular law disproportionately favours heterosexual couples in stable, long-term partnerships. Two couples have taken their fight to the Bombay and Karnataka High Courts, demanding equal rights under the law.
Mumbai: More same-sex couples are knocking on the court’s door to challenge the law that levies tax on the gifts that one partner receives from another. Make no mistake: they are not seeking any recognition or presumption of marriage. They are contesting the ‘discriminatory’ provision in India’s income tax (I-T) law that favours heterosexual couples in the same circumstances-persons who are in a long, stable relationship, but are not married.
