By Thaddeus M. Baklinski
FRANCE, September 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The French news service Le Monde reported this week that the French Ministry of Finance has recognized a homosexual couple’s Dutch same-sex “marriage” for tax purposes, despite the fact that homosexual “marriage” is not legal in the country.
According to the article (https://www.lemonde.fr/europe/article/2008/09/05/la-france-reconnait-le-mariage-d-un-couple-d-hommes-neerlandais_1091846_3214.html) the two Dutch men were “married” in Leyden in 2002, but then moved to France. While in France they tried to file a joint tax return as a married couple, which has significant tax benefits as compared to filing as a couple in a civil union.
At first French tax authorities refused to accept the couple’s claim, arguing that same-sex “marriage” does not exist in France.
The homosexuals, however, challenged the decision in court, saying that “international conventions signed by France and rules of international private law” should be applied. ( See EU Agency Calls for a Re-definition of Marriage, Criminalization of “Homophobia”: https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/aug/08082107.html).
While claiming that it did not want to give the impression that it was validating homosexual “marriage” in France, the court ruled that tax authorities could recognize a same-sex “marriage” if the country where the couple was married recognized it.
The Legal Department of the Ministry of Finance eventually notified the homosexuals that they would be considered “married” for French tax purposes, the only condition being that their “marriage” license be translated into French.
Le Monde reports that this precedent does not permit a French homosexual couple to “marry” – but those from Belgium, the Netherlands or Spain, where same-sex “marriage” is legal, may benefit from this judgment.