I recently learned that my ward averages about $8000 in contributions per week. My ward is an average one, not poor, but not rich either. Taking that $8000 as a baseline average, that works out to $416,000 in contributions (tithing, fast offering, missionary etc) in a year. According to the last general conference, there are 28,424 wards and branches. That would translate to the church bringing in about $11.8 Billion dollars a year in contributions from its members. Not a bad yearly haul.

They aren't receiving 12 Billion from tithing but I wouldn't be surprised if their combined revenues were that high.

Heresy, you didn't mention what country you are in, but I would guess that most of the church's wealth comes from the U.S. wards, w/ the Europeans second. There are 10,700 wards in the U.S. alone. Based on the ward clerk thread, I've surmised in the past that tithing revenue is closer to $5billion a year. Your figure x 10,700 U.S. wards is $4.45 billion per year. That's pretty close to Time Magazine's estimate of $5 billion a year that they estimated back in 1997. You can google the article and find it pretty easily:
Its titled:
Kingdom Come Salt Lake City Was Just for Starters.

Whether its 12 or 5, either way, I figure the Corporation of the President doesn't need my money. I just wish I could figure out a way to tell my nephews that. They are TBM, just starting out w/ families of their own, and paying the corporation 10% of what little they have.

I still pay tithing even though I reject all of the church's claims. I attend sometimes so I use their facilities. My dependents are mostly active, too, so I ought to pay somthing.


I think the original amount to pay was mostly fair and it was not a regressive tax.


Mormon Tithing
What amount is a proper tithe? And where can one find binding authority within Mormonism, to determine this?

I. Introduction

Binding authority in Mormon doctrine and policy, to declare what is a proper tithe, can probably be prioritized as first: the canonized scriptures and second: signed statements of the First Presidency.

II. MORMON SCRIPTURE states plainly that tithing is to be paid on any surplus beyond a person’s needs.
Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon produced D&C 119:4 (1838). It states:
“And after that, those who have been thus tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their INTEREST annually; and this shall be a standing LAW unto them FOREVER, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.” (Emphases added.)

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines “INTEREST” as
“5. Any surplus advantage.” (http://65.66.134.201/cgi-bin/webster/webster.exe?search_for_texts_web1828=interest). Webster’s defines “advantage”, in pertinent part, as “7. Interest; increase; overplus”. In the 1820′s, the word “interest” was synonymous with the phrase “surplus advantage”. A plain reading of the text leads to a harmony of meaning between the word “interest” and the phrase “surplus advantage”.

But what about scriptural harmony? Can one find the scriptural meaning of “interest” to be “surplus”?

Yes.

There are at least TWO passages of scripture that explicitly teach a proper tithe is one-tenth of surplus.

1. The FIRST passage of scripture is D&C 119:5, which is the next verse:
“Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be TITHED OF THEIR SURPLUS PROPERTIES, and shall observe THIS LAW, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you.”

Significant meanings should be observed from verse 5. The phrase “THIS LAW”, can only refer to the previous usage of the word “law” in verse 4, which states in pertinent part, “and this shall be a standing LAW”. And the phrase “THIS LAW”, namely “one-tenth of all their INTEREST annually” in verse 4, is expounded in a clarifying manner as “SURPLUS PROPERTIES” in verse 5.

2. The SECOND passage of scripture comes from the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) of the Bible. Smith and Rigdon also produced the JST. It is mostly in Rigdon’s handwriting.
“Wherefore Abram paid unto him tithes of all that he had, of all the riches which he possessed, which God had given him MORE THAN THAT WHICH HE HAD NEED.” JST Genesis 14:39. (Emphasis added.)

This passage of scripture from the JST is not a mere relic of early Mormonism. The passage can be found in the Quadruple Combination, on page 798, after the Bible Dictionary, in the section JOSEPH SMITH TRANSLATION. Although the church does not include all of Smith’s translations from the JOSEPH SMITH TRANSLATION, the church has included this one in its official and current book of scripture as authoritative commentary.

Scriptural harmony between D&C 119, and JST Genesis 14:39 also resides in the concept that “interest” (D&C 119:4) is expounded as “surplus properties” (D&C 119:5), or in other words, “more than that which he had need” (JST Genesis 14:39). To understand the meaning of what is to be tithed, we are fortunate to find a simple, elegant harmony in meaning, between a plain reading of the text and Mormon scripture; “interest” (v. 4) means “surplus properties” (v. 5). Mormon tithing is defined as “one-tenth of their surplus properties annually” (D&C 119:4,5), which means “more than that which he had need” (JST Genesis 14:39).

III. What about OFFICIAL MORMON POLICY?

On March 19, 1970, the First Presidency sent a letter to presidents of stakes and missions, bishops of wards, and presidents of branches in answer to the question, What is a proper tithe?

“For your guidance in this matter, please be advised that we have uniformly replied that the simplest statement we know of is that statement of the Lord himself that the members of the Church should pay one-tenth of all their INTEREST annually, which is understood to mean income. NO ONE IS JUSTIFIED IN MAKING ANY OTHER STATEMENT THAN THIS. We feel that every member of the Church should be ENTITLED TO MAKE HIS OWN DECISION as to what he thinks he owes the Lord, and to make payment accordingly.”

The General Handbook of Instructions quotes from the March 19, 1970 letter from the First Presidency sets forth a definition of what is tithed.
Here is a portion of the General Handbook of Instructions from that section: “The simplest statement we know of is the statement of the Lord himself, namely, that the members of the Church should pay ?one-tenth of all their interest annually,’ which is understood to mean income. No one is justified in making any other statement than this.” (First Presidency letter, 19 Mar. 1970; see also D&C 119:4).

Because the General Handbook of Instructions quotes the 1970 letter from the First Presidency, the 1970 letter remains the official written policy on tithing.

Can one harmonize the statement of the First Presidency with canonized scripture?

Let us try.

The phrase “one-tenth of all their interest annually, which is understood to mean income”, has harmonious meaning with “one-tenth of all their surplus properties annually, which is understood to mean surplus income.”

Is this an unjustified statement?

I would venture, not if one does a plain reading of the text in D&C 119:4-5.

IV. What about Elder Sheldon F. Child’s Sheldon F. Child’s April 2008 General Conference Speech
The speech did not fail to give the impression a proper tithe is 10% of gross income. I understand they need our money, but why don’t they follow the scriptures in telling us how much of our money they need?
Child told a story of earning 20 silver dollars and paying two of them as his tithing:

“I remember Dad coming home that night and dropping 20 silver dollars into my hands. Money was hard to come by, and I thought I had all the money in the world. I counted, admired, and polished each coin carefully. When Sunday came, I reluctantly put two shiny coins into my pocket to pay my tithing.” (Sheldon F. Child in Sunday Morning Session of the 2008 Annual General Conference).

Is there a difficulty in understanding Elder Child’s message? Has he taught the faithful that a proper tithe is 10% of gross?

Elder Child was a minor when he earned his 20 silver dollars. Consequently, Child owed no taxes. Although it appeared he was paying a tithe on his gross, he was actually paying a tithe on his net since they were the same.
But according to Mormon scripture, Child was also paying a tithe on his excess beyond his needs. It states his parents were obligated to meet his needs; the obligation was to his “parents for [his] maintenance until [he becomes] of age.” (D&C 83:4).

It is remarkable that Child’s two silver dollars from a gross of 20 silver dollars was a tithe on his gross, his net, and his excess!

But it is also an oversimplification since Child no doubt incurred expenses in raising his livestock. Child’s speech seems gloss over both the scriptures and the statement of the First Presidency since his speech is a simplification of both the proper tithe amount and and it does not discuss the costs of his business.

Child’s speech may cause misunderstanding for the Saints as to what is a proper tithe.

V. Epilogue

Does willingly paying a tithe require faith, and if not faith, a benevolent heart?

Certainly.

If the Saints should pay the tithe according to the “standing law forever” which is seen by the scriptural and logical harmony of the word “interest” to mean “surplus properties”, should not the Brethren also consider having the faith to let the Saints pay their tithes according to scripture? Will not the Lord bless both the Saints and the Brethren for exercising faith in the scriptural definitions of tithing?
________________________________________
Appendix A – D&C 119 full text
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord, I require all their asurplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church in Zion,
2 For the building of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church.
3 And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people.
4 And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay ONE-TENTH OF ALL THEIR INTEREST ANNUALLY; and THIS SHALL BE A STANDING LAW unto them FOREVER, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.
5 Verily I say unto you, it shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be TITHED OF THEIR SURPLUS PROPERTIES, and shall observe THIS LAW, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you.
6 And I say unto you, if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you, it shall not be a land of Zion unto you.
7 And this shall be an ensample unto all the stakes of Zion. Even so. Amen.

Thanks for the lesson and verses on tithing. While I have seen the surplus-advantage idea, I've not seen it put in this much detail.

I never said that it was just in Tithing. If you look at my original post it is Total Contributions. Also, I used the worldwide figure of 28,424 wards and branches that the church quoted at the April 2010 General Conference and found in the May Ensign. The 28K wards times the $416K in donations gives you the $11.8 Billion figure. If you just look at 10,700 in the US alone, then the $5Billion figure would still be consistent since I was quoting a global estimate, not an estimate limited to the US. The $416,000 per year for one ward figure seems to agree with what was posted in the thread with info from finance clerks.

I loved the post on what is a "proper tithe" I find it sad that people feel like they need to pay tithing on Social Security "income." Which technicaly speaking if they paid tithing on their gross income, then they already paid tithing on it.

Thanks for the Invitation Free Rose. I was "On the Fence" when I first found this site a few years ago. I am personally already on the other side with you, but like some people here, I still am wearing the TBM facade until I figure out the best way out. I've got a TBM wife who said she would divorce me if I ever left the church and take my kids so I wouldn't "corrupt" them. My kids are all still fairly young, so still trying to figure out the best way to do this without losing them.

For a pretty good treatment on the LDS Church's wealth, I recommend reading Heinerman and Shupe's "The Mormon Corporate Empire", ISBN 978-0807004067 (There are two different printings, both in the mid-late 1980s, I believe). If I remember what I read 20 years ago as a missionary, the Church's estimated net proceeds from Tithing alone were 5 Billion dollars per year in the mid 80s. An estimate of 12 Billion is not that bad. The Church's stock, real estate, and business portfolios give it a net worth of 10 times that amount. Even if City Creek completely fails, the Church could easily make that up by spinning off a few businesses.