Germany rejects gay tax reform

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling conservatives have rejected at their party congress a motion to put gay couples on the same tax footing as married ones.
After a thorny debate, delegates gathered in the northern city of Hanover on Tuesday roundly supported instead a bid recognising the "advancement and privilege of marriage" between a man and woman as protected in the constitution.
A group of 13 Christian Democratic Union (CDU) members had urged the congress to back their motion for gay couples who have registered their partnership to receive the same tax benefits as married couples.
Germany's top court is due to rule on the issue next year.
Merkel told Sunday's Bild newspaper that she did not favour putting gay couples on the same tax footing as heterosexual ones because the constitution "sees marriage directly linked to the family and both are under the special protection of the state".

But she said she anticipated a "good, respectful" discussion on the issue in Hanover where the CDU congress continues on Wednesday.
Germany introduced registered partnerships of same-sex couples in 2001.