We're Single. Really.
Once again, the fabulous Deb Price in the Detroit News:
But [Deb Price's partner] Joyce never gets frustrated until she turns her attention to our taxes — hers and mine, that is. To my mother, our mortgage company, our credit union, American Express, my minister and even our Spanish teacher, we're a unit –blended financially and emotionally. Only U.S. governments insist on the fiction that we're single.
It makes it tricky sometimes to decide just what to check off on forms. At the moment, I'm working on IRS Form 1023 (Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code) for Ars Hermeneutica. Isaac, my partner of nearly 13 years (12 October, if you want to send cards), is my co-incorporator and a director of the company. So, there's this question:
Part V, Question 2a:
Are any of your officers, directors, or trustees related to each other through family or business
relationships? If “Yes,” identify the individuals and explain the relationship.
The instructions, I suppose, clarify the situation by making it clear that we're not related in any way:
•“Family relationships” include the individual’s spouse, ancestors, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, siblings (whether by whole or half blood), and the spouses of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and siblings.
So, do I stick to the instructions and say "no", or do I do what seems honest (and a bit politically activist) and say "yes" and explain?
After all, I don't want to do anything to upset the IRS.