Winston Blackmore, FLDS leader in Bountiful, B.C., is in court again, this time accused of under-reporting income and owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes. Inevitably, his living situation comes under questioning and even Blackmore apparently cannot keep track of his numerous wives and multitudes of children.

Blackmore is trying to squeeze his lifestyle into existing definitions in the tax code related to church, religion, trust, and congregation in order to avoid tax, causing the court to dig into his living arrangements and religious beliefs and practices (again).


http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Canadian+polygamist+Winston+Blackmore+names+wives+court/6046205/story.html


“What the tax collectors believe is that he was simply trying to avoid taxes by claiming that his family is a “congregation” and that his income was part of a religious trust.”

“It took a long time, punctuated with many pauses, and a prod to look at documents that he’d previously filed. But eventually on Tuesday, Canada’s best-known polygamist Winston Blackmore named all 21 of his wives for a Federal Tax Court judge.

“But there was no way, he said, that he could remember what years he married them.

“But even the list, Blackmore said, doesn’t include “other people” who lived with him as wives. He didn’t explain what he meant by that.

“He married 16 Americans. At least 13 of the so-called ‘sister-wives’ are real sisters to at least one other of Blackmore’s wives. On a couple of occasions, he married the sisters on the same day in ceremonies that were presided over by the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who at the time was Rulon Jeffs.

“In the past, Blackmore has been coy about how many wives and children he has. But on Tuesday, he was under cross-examination on the second day of his tax trial.

“He’s fighting a tax reassessment, which determined that Blackmore had underestimated his personal income by $1.5 million during a five-year period from 2000 to 2006, but excluding 2005.

“Asked how many children he had at the time, Blackmore wasn’t able to say. He had previously filed a list of 47 children born during that six-year period. Pressed by government lawyer Lynn Burch for the total number at the time, Blackmore said he’d have to call home.

“When she said that wasn’t possible, Blackmore agreed that there were at least another 20 children in his household at the time for a total of at least 67. Since the mid-2000s, Blackmore’s family has grown to include more than 110 children, plus he has 20 adult children who are married with children.”

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Here is another article that gives a fuller outline of the issues being brought forward in court:

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Winston+Blackmore+centre+Federal+Court+fight/6041966/story.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2012 07:23AM by Nightingale.

“But there was no way, he said, that he could remember what years he married them."

with that many wives, you'd think one of them could buy him a diary for xmas

I just think "Winston Blackmore" is the best cowboy name I've ever heard.

Or a n'er-do-good in a Sherlock Holmes novel?

Ron

When I say he has the best cowboy name I've ever heard, I'm actually saying quite a lot. Back when I did tech support for a computer manufacturer, we had an on-site tech by the name of "Clint Silver" (obviously the good guy) who would call in sometimes. When one of us would get him, we would put him on mute, and then stand up and start shooting finger guns in the air "Pew! Pew! Pew! I got Clint Silver!" Then the rest of us would join in. We mocked him terribly because of his name, and then we felt awful because he was the nicest guy in the whole world.

One time, a tech noticed that he was in New Jersey and someone else said "New Jer-sey? Git a rope." Just terrible.

I feel no such remorse about Mr. Blackmore, however.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2012 10:58AM by Makurosu.

And LDS Inc sets the weirdness bar pretty high

This family-as-congregation concept is a perk of polygamy that I hadn't considered before.

I mean, everyone makes the baseball team joke, but the tax advantages of having your very own congregation ...

Winston's penchant for marrying sisters creeps me out.

OnceMore Wrote:
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>Winston's penchant for marrying sisters creeps me out.

Yeah, and how about marrying mothers and daughters, sometimes on the same day? A lot of the plyg leaders take the family thing way too seriously.

Why do you need more than one "bride" at a time? (OK, maybe that's a dumb question). But this is supposed to be a sacred religious thing, no?

The poor women. Not only do they have to share their husbands with numerous other "wives" but they don't even get their wedding night to themselves.

Or maybe that's a relief to them?! Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. I swear I'd be praying to fall off the wagon on the way to the bridal bed, and hopefully hit my head on a jagged rock or two.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2012 02:47PM by Nightingale.

http://youtu.be/uM01v_vVnbg

Followed by:

http://youtu.be/s92OVHbl-lU

Seem familiar?

Timothy



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2012 03:26PM by Timothy.

Heck, he can't even remember how many have left him.

Really put in perspective the claims to honor and respect women, doesn't it? :)

Oh, looks like I underestimated Blackmore's tax bill. Rev Can is claiming he owes $4.3 million. Ouch.

If he can show that he is a religious leader living in a commune type arrangement, apparently, he can wiggle off the hook by spreading the cost around to fellow commune members. That's why he's presenting arguments about definitions of certain terminology. Doesn't sound like the govt lawyer is swallowing that argument.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Polygamist+leader+Winston+Blackmore+takes+stand+evasion+trial/6038672/story.html

Didn't they talk about him in Under the Banner of Heaven?