Polygamy Tax -- Good News!
It's tax time, and this year the news was good. Karen and I did a marriage transfer last year, so this year I'm legally marriage to Lisa, who I support. We expected the transfer to significantly lower our taxes, and it did.
Lisa and I went to H & R Block and met Doug, a retired auditor for the IRS who was supplementing his income. We decided to come fully "out" and see what happened. "This is my wife Lisa, and we're polygamous. You'll meet my wife Karen next week." I showed him a photo of the three of us.
This was Doug's first contact with polygamy, and he was interested. After the understandable confusion and reassurance that only one wife was legally married, he dived in and prepared our tax return. Lisa and I filed jointly, and Karen filed separately.
When the smoke cleared, Lisa and I had a $6,000 refund, and Karen owed $2,500. I immediately wrote her a check for $3,000. So we had a $3,500 refund altogether.
Last year, with roughly the same income and expenses, we had just about no refund. So being polygamous saved us $3,500 this year, which in addition to my recent promotion is even more reason to celebrate!
The bottom line -- if you're polygamous, legally marry your poorest wife! Don't do this just to save money, though, since the IRS might object. Find another legitimate reason. And don't be afraid to tell your tax preparer that you're polygamous. He/she might be able to help you, since it's their job to suggest ways to save you money.
Lisa and I went to H & R Block and met Doug, a retired auditor for the IRS who was supplementing his income. We decided to come fully "out" and see what happened. "This is my wife Lisa, and we're polygamous. You'll meet my wife Karen next week." I showed him a photo of the three of us.
This was Doug's first contact with polygamy, and he was interested. After the understandable confusion and reassurance that only one wife was legally married, he dived in and prepared our tax return. Lisa and I filed jointly, and Karen filed separately.
When the smoke cleared, Lisa and I had a $6,000 refund, and Karen owed $2,500. I immediately wrote her a check for $3,000. So we had a $3,500 refund altogether.
Last year, with roughly the same income and expenses, we had just about no refund. So being polygamous saved us $3,500 this year, which in addition to my recent promotion is even more reason to celebrate!
The bottom line -- if you're polygamous, legally marry your poorest wife! Don't do this just to save money, though, since the IRS might object. Find another legitimate reason. And don't be afraid to tell your tax preparer that you're polygamous. He/she might be able to help you, since it's their job to suggest ways to save you money.
posted by Martin at 3:46 PM
Comments:
I'm confused. I thought you were legally married to Karen. oh what difference does it make! :)
I love you blog it's so full of good information. Would you happen to know of any other poly sites that don't necessarily deal with religious plural marriage as in the mormon kind.
thanks.
new third wife
Fantastic... a new way to cheat on taxes... no better than welfare fraud. I am a single mother that works her ass off for what we have and I pay for peple like you to cheat. Your tax people ought to be turned in for hiding what is going on
I’m sorry to hear how upset this has made you. I completely agree that our society doesn’t honor or support single mothers. As far as taxes go, minimizing them is not “cheating”. The IRS specifically allows taxpayers to “aggressively minimize their taxes”. Single mothers, like polygamous families, are not entitled to the tax breaks that married couples enjoy. If you feel that minimizing taxes is illegal, and if it makes you feel any better, by all means, please go ahead and report us.
How did they cheat on there taxes??
2 legally married people filed jointly and received a $6000 tax return..... and the wife that couldn't file jointly had to pay $2500 out of her pocket..... the husband pretty much gave his second wife a portion of his jointly filed tax return to cover his other wifes $2500 tax burden..... did you even read what he wrote???
There is a reason why politicians get away with murder... people don't think.
Anonymous up here is not understanding taxes...
I do have a question, can you file jointly all three together and see in what tax bracket you fall in? or claim one of them as dependent?
I may still suggest you get the rich wife that files single to get more $ withheld.
If you are a fan of high tax returns just get more money withheld on your w4, complete w4 as single and file taxes jointly.
Is a way of saving. however a lot of people rather have not much tax withheld and what they owe later one.