Google has announced that starting immediately, it will consider domestic partnerships between gay and lesbian couples to be the same as legal marriages in terms of health benefits, and it will compensate employees that are paying the additional taxes on benefits for their partners.
Federal law states that health benefits granted to an employee’s domestic partner are classified as taxable income, while married couples are exempt. According to a New York Times article, gay and lesbian employees that claim their partner on their health insurance pay roughly $1,070 more in taxes per year than their married counterparts. The new compensation that goes into effect today is retroactive from January 1, and will pay that difference as well as any additional taxes from benefits for dependents.
