VANCOUVER - A federal lawyer says polygamous leader Winston Blackmore is merely the patriarch in a large polygamous family, and he can't claim to be part of a recognized religious organization for tax purposes.
It's an argument Blackmore is using in a tax case in which the federal government is demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes and penalties.
Federal lawyer Lynne Burch told Federal Court in Vancouver that the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., doesn't fit the definition of a congregation, which allows religious groups to be assessed as a whole, rather than having each person pay individual taxes.
Testifying in his own defence, Blackmore told the trial he believes his company J.R. Blackmore and Sons Ltd., should be assessed as a congregation, allowing the tax burden to be spread out among the communities' residents.
Blackmore is one of the leaders of Bountiful, B.C., where residents have been under investigation for decades for openly practising multiple marriages.
Blackmore's religious sect triggered a constitutional challenge of Canada's anti-polygamy laws, and last year a judge ruled the laws were valid, saying polygamy harms women and children.
© The Canadian Press, 2012