Courtesy of Toni Broaddus

Janice Wells and Toni Broaddus of Richmond filed their taxes following new IRS rules for gay couples and were rejected for not being "husband and wife." Now the IRS is apologizing

The Internal Revenue Service, not exactly known as a bastion of compassion, had these words for gay and lesbian couples this week: we’re sorry.

The public apology was in response to inquiries from The Bay Citizen about problems faced by same-sex couples, most in California, who are filing returns in compliance with new rules that recognized their relationships for the first time.

The change to the tax code, put into effect for 2010, was supposed to be a step toward equal treatment by the IRS.

Instead, couples have faced a litany of conflicts. The latest involves at least 300 taxpayers who have had their returns rejected with terse letters signed by an enigmatic IRS employee named J. Bell from Fresno.

“Your return includes income or tax liability for more than one taxpayer, other than husband and wife,” the letters read. Note: husband and wife. Not two husbands, or two wives.

Couples who received the letters had to produce additional paperwork and faced delays in receiving refunds; most were forced to hire tax professionals.

In a statement this week, the IRS said that the letters had been “incorrectly sent” because of a processing error and that it “apologizes for this mistake and sincerely regrets any inconvenience to taxpayers.”

The agency explained that J. Bell was a manager whose stamped signature was “system-generated.”

Toni Broaddus and Janice Wells of Richmond, who wed while same-sex marriage was legal in California in 2008, received a J. Bell letter in April.

“We were upset and we were angry when we got the letter,” Broaddus said. “I felt like we were being harassed by someone in the government who works for the IRS.” The couple’s case remains unresolved.