Centre tells Karnataka High Court same-sex couples cannot receive tax exemptions

The Union government has informed the Karnataka High Court that same-sex couples in India cannot receive tax exemptions that are currently available to spouses and family members under existing tax laws. The Centre stated that granting these exemptions would indirectly recognise same-sex marital relationships, which Indian law does not currently recognise.

Court Submissions

Appearing before a bench of Justice B Shyama Prasad on Monday, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Arvind Kamath opposed a plea filed by Bengaluru residents Anurag Kalia and Akhilesh Godi. The petitioners challenged the constitutional validity of the fifth proviso to Section 56(2)(x) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which exempts gifts between spouses from tax. The legal issue arose after Godi gifted Kalia a 22-karat gold bracelet, which is a family heirloom, as the couple prepared their income-tax returns for the 2025–26 assessment year. They moved the High Court in September 2025 to challenge the provision and the exclusion of same-sex partners.

Arguments and Response

The government argued in its written submissions that same-sex relationships are not equivalent to marriage and that such partners are not spouses under the law. Officials also warned that extending the tax exemption could create scope for tax evasion. Meanwhile, advocate Dhruv Janssen Sanghvi, representing the petitioners, told the court that denying the exemption reflects unequal treatment and penalises the couple for expressing their love. Sanghvi argued that the case raises a narrower question than the 2023 Supreme Court case of Supriya Chakraborty versus Union of India, focusing solely on whether a tax benefit can be denied simply because same-sex couples cannot legally marry. The court scheduled the next hearing for November 2 to seek technical clarifications on documents filed in the case.

Context

Tax laws in India often include specific exemptions and provisions tailored to legally recognized family structures such as marriage. Legal challenges involving LGBTQ rights frequently center on whether statutory benefits tied to marital status can be extended to couples who lack legal recognition under current civil laws.