Posted on 03/11/2013 4:40:06 PM PDT by greyfoxx39
The Mormons take tithing very seriously. They are very well organized about it. Members are supposed to meet with their bishop for a tithing settlement. Here is a training session on what is supposed to happen in a tithing settlement. At the end the bishop will mark you as a full tithe payer – or not. If you are not a full tithe payer you cannot be admitted to the temple, much less hold offices. Mr. Thompson had a letter from his bishop explaining this to the Tax Court. The tithing rule is so strict that some have argued that Mormons should not be able to deduct their tithes as charitable contributions, since there is, in effect, a quid-pro-quo. That argument has not gone anywhere.
Mr. Thompson argued that the tithe was a necessary expense since it was required to hold his church offices.
However, petitioner overlooks the fact that it is his Church who is requiring him to resign his positions if he does not tithe.
-SNIP-
Laws of general applicability that require persons to meet certain general requirements of citizenship, such as paying taxes, cannot be avoided by the fact that they indirectly make it more difficult to fulfill a purely religious duty, such as a member tithing a certain amount to his church.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Ping
Bishop Romney was endlessly praised for his “charitable” giving in such large amounts, money that was going into his cult and buying him becoming a God in the afterlife.
Mormon tax.
Not a good result for health care related mandates.
Whooooa!!!
So in simple terms because this is a demand it is not freely given so not a deduction.
Correct?
The Bible is clear giving is between you and God Almighty, NOT between you and some man.
The accounting is between you and God Almighty, some man does not enter into the equation.
Click the “training session” link in the article...quite interesting.
Correct.
Romney (and others) are just buying a better seat at the celestial table of lds glory.
So very sad they do not understand what tithing (giving, alms) really is.
It is hard to imagine that I must pay my way into some celestial glory............
So very grateful that Jesus Christ paid the price for me the wretched sinner, with His Mercy allowed me a way to be with Him for eternity.
does that mean that if I had a country club membership as a business expense to be used to entertain clients and to promote my business, it would not be deductible ?
This article is about religious donations. Read the whole article at the link.
Why any reasonable person would want to do that is beyond me.
As it is present here, no.
A business deduction is not the same a tithe claimed as charitable deduction.
When you have time, click the link below to see the legalistic folderol involved in being a tithing mormon.
My Christian church accepts my tithe gratefully with no man involved in my donation and no "settlement" as though it is a debt owed to my church.
That is total crap. But if Mormons want to submit to that crap, I guess that is fine with me.
I will never understand it, but if people want to build religions around which end of the egg to break and extract money from its followers, so be it.
I will draw the line when these nutballs try to instituionalize their delusions with my tax dollars.
...And it came to pass... that to go on, click the continue botton.
I didn’t read all the replies, but this is because he’s taking it as a business expense (which reduces SS and medicare “taxes”) and not as a personal charitable deduction (which does not).
When they eliminate the max taxable income for SS taxes, this will be a much bigger deal.
The simple solution is to incorporate, and have your business donate. If he’d hired a corporate attorney for $1000, he wouldn’t have had to hire a tax attorney for $10,000.
It’s very simple.
Give 10% and you get into the temple.
Get into the temple and you get a maybe shot at the Celestial Kingdom.
You maybe get to have billions of babies and own your own universe, just down the universe street from the God of Israel.
If you’re good enough. And you never know if you’re good enough.
Don’t give 10% and you’re eternally sterile and relegated to golfing in foot-deep grass.
The argument against the Mormon tithe being deductible because it is required to hold an office in their church strikes me as a non-starter: being an officer of the LDS or being admitted to their temple are intangible religious benefits, which do not count as a quid pro quo for purposes of deciding deductability of charitable donations.
Looks like the IRS is trying to break this down. Mormons can handle their tithing like any other religious group, and again, the govey needs to keep its big fat nose out of it.
My religion says I must partake of the sacrament of Ganja daily.
That’s not illegal or anything is it?
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