Centre Opposes Same-Sex Partners' Claim to Spouse Tax Exemption Before Karnataka High Court

The Union Government has opposed a constitutional challenge seeking extension of the Income-tax Act's gift-tax exemption for a 'spouse' to partners in a same-sex relationship.

Background to the tax dispute

The matter is pending before the Karnataka High Court. The petitioners argue that the expression 'spouse' in the statutory definition of a relative under Section 56(2)(x) excludes same-sex partners and therefore denies them a tax benefit available to heterosexual married couples.

How the Court analysed the tax question

The Centre has responded that the requested relief cannot be granted without treating the relationship as a legally recognised marriage. Its case is that the Income-tax Act uses 'spouse' in the context of a legal marital relationship and that a tax exemption cannot be judicially expanded in a manner that effectively creates a new marital status.

The petitioners, on the other hand, have placed the issue in constitutional terms and challenge the exclusion as discriminatory.

Result and practical effect

The High Court has not yet pronounced on the validity of the provision or on whether the exemption must be read more broadly. The present development is the Union Government's formal stand in the pending case.