The gay tax protest is gaining momentum
PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Nov. 7, 2008 — Charles Merrill, the cousin of the man who founded Merrill Lynch & Co., and who predicted (Wall Street Journal, 10/31/2007) a stock market crash that will put the 1929 crash to shame, has also been a key figure since 2004 resisting paying federal income tax. Merrill is legally married to Kevin Boyle in California, and his case is going to court. The docket at ustaxcourt.gov is 3058-08, Merrill vs Commissioner of Internal Revenue and is scheduled to be heard in 2009, at U.S. Tax Court, San Diego.
The latest celebrity to join a tax protest is singer Melissa Etheridge, who rails against the passage of the gay-marriage ban in California – and she won't be paying the state a dime.
She stated on http://www.thedailybeast.com: "Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books." She added at the end of her statement, "Come to think of it, I should get a federal tax break too …."
Merrill said, "During this time of economic strife, shouldn't it make sense that the federal and state governments recognize our marriages? We want to pay taxes, but we don't like being treated as second class citizens because of religious bigotry. President-elect Obama promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act which prohibits us from getting federal benefits, 1,138 of them. We must hold him to his promise."
Contact Information:
Charles Merrill
760 219 1121
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