The United States Tax Court agreed with the IRS's decision to deny the deduction, but on appeal the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision, holding that the tax code conflicted with the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and extending the caregiver deduction to never-married men.

In 1968, Charles Moritz, a never-married man, claimed a tax deduction under Section 214 for the salary of a caregiver he hired to care for his mother.

On October 22, 1970, the Tax Court denied his petition, holding that he was not covered by the statute and rejecting his argument that denial of the deduction was unconstitutional.

They argued that Moritz would have been allowed the deduction if he were female and that there was no rational basis for the difference in treatment between men and women in this case.

Finally the court agreed that "extending the coverage of the deduction provisions seems logical and proper, in view of their purpose and the broad separability clause in the act.

[9] Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who represented Moritz before the 10th Circuit, was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1993.