Sure, we’re worth it. But headlines make it sound like Google is simply compensating their gay and lesbian employees for being more fabulous.
Google announced it will offset a tax liability same-sex couples incur that opposite-sex couples do not, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
When a company offers domestic partnership benefits, those perks — such as health insurance for a partner — are taxable as income.
When I looked at the cost of going on my domestic partner’s health insurance, it would have been more expensive than buying a policy for myself as an individual. The domestic partner “benefit” amounted to an almost $200-per-month penalty.
Google is doing something about it. The company is paying the tax penalty incurred by gay and lesbian employees by increasing their compensation.
Among the requirements to receive a perfect rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, a company must offer domestic partnership benefits. The company through which I would have received benefits has a score of 100 percent on the CEI, despite the fact that signing up for those benefits would have cost me more than $2,000 per year in tax liabilities that an opposite-sex married couple would not have to pay.
One company offering a benefit does not indicate a trend. However, Google competes for a pool of talent in Silicone Valley, and other companies are expected to look at this benefit seriously.
A permanent fix for this inequity would be to change the law to recognize and treat same-sex marriages the same as opposite-sex marriages.
Although in my case the difference would have been higher, HRC estimates the difference in tax burden at $1,069 per year. If Google does compensate an employee only that amount to cover the tax cost of the benefit, that employee is now liable for taxes on the $1,069 as well.
Google is trying to equalize the burden on their employees. HRC should demand that for any company to receive a 100 percent rating, they do the same.
Why does the homosexal’s feel the need to impose there value’s on the rest of the country? By and large most American’s want to be left alone and not have homosexalty or environmentalism or any other part of the Leftist Communistic religion thrust upon us. The reason we oppose legalize gay marriage is that if you allow it then the rest of us will be forced to subsidize something that may be a violation of our religion (i.e. a violation of our First Amendment Rights). I would favor a law that allows for Gay unions with a rider that small business owners do not have to recognize it if they choose not to (i.e. not forcing us to offer health benefits to the other spouse even if we offer them to traditional marriage spouses).