Now, in practical terms, what does this mean? Well, say you are a couple where one partner earns substantially more than the other. You'll have noticed that your California tax bills went down with community property. Now the same will apply to the federal government. For example, say "Adam" earns $50,000 as a public school teacher. His husband "Bill" earns $150,000 as a investment hot-shot or something. (No comment on our society's priorities there.) Under this new law, each would report income of $100,000. For a variety of reasons in the tax code, that's going to be advantageous.