New law disallows tax deductions for non-profits that spend less than 30% on actual charity. Will that mean Mormons can't deduct tithing from their taxes?

http://www.katu.com/news/business/Oregons-groundbreaking-new-charity-law-takes-tax-breaks-away-213753861.html?m=y&smobile=y

This is huge! What a great law.

To qualify as being tax deductible, the morg would have to document how they spend their money, every year.

Badly run charities would lose donars, even if people didn't realize they didn't qualify because their taxes would be adjusted to remove the donation. You can bet that person would not donate a second year.

Obviously, the morg didn't have a big political presence in oregon, because they would have fought this tooth and nail.

I would love to see this in my state, I might have just found a cause. I live in maryland so there are mobots due to the beltway temple.

Great news! It would be justice indeed if this new charity law in Oregon was rolled out throughout the US.
LDS Inc. exploit their tax exempt status to the full and must be the worst violators of this scam. Their derisory charitable status needs to be exposed for the financial fraud it most certainly is. If this became law nationwide, it would cause a great deal of damage to the Mormon Empire. Bring it on.

How will that affect the mormon church?

Do people pay tithing to get a little more back on taxes?

No, TBM tithe payers pay for their rewards in heaven.

If that were to become a federal law, all it would be is fodder for their fire that the world is out to get them.

The next conference after that law was passed you would hear, "Brothers and sisters, you are not paying tithing to receive a tax deduction, you are paying tithing as it gives you the full blessings of the church. Continue paying your tithing. The world has always been against us, and it still is. Yes, we will lose those of little faith... blah, blah, blah..."

This is true, of course, but at least Mormons will be made fully aware of how little charity their church does. The real charity is done thru non paid volunteers who could be charitable without the church taking all the credit. They will see once and for all that their church is a big money sucking corporation designed to exalt the white males at the top. Once they see this they will have to work a lot harder to maintain the delusion that their church uses their money for charity and it will be harder to make others believe it who are outside the cult. But, as you say, there will always be those who will prefer to believe they belong to a charitable church rather than a corporation simply because they WANT to believe it. They love listening to spin.

I wish the US didn't give religious groups a pass on financial transparency.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2013 10:34AM by 2+2=4.

It happened for a reason, and that reason was NOT so some multi billion dollar multi national scam corporation could pose as a church to rip off / take advantage of things even more, by avoiding taxes in the name of god.

Seeing how LDS Inc /MORmONISM operates gives a person a much better understanding of why Lenin wanted to do away with churches/ religion.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2013 02:36PM by lucky.

Soviet Russia is not exactly a shining example of a progressive alternative to the supposed ills of religion.

Stalinist Russia: officially Athiest, but also a totalitarian system, the way I understand it. Talk about suppression of factual information. They took it to a whole new level.


And note, many churches voluntarily report their finances. The ones that don't ought to get more press that they don't.

I do wish that the Feds would require them all to report their finances, though.

What reason not to? Many do it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2013 03:02PM by 2+2=4.

This is probably the most important and most relevant information I have read here for a long time.
If this could only become law nationwide, the Mormon church would be in big trouble.
Can you imagine how it would look and what could be the outcome, if the church was forced to open their books and their was full public disclosure of all their financial dealings throughout all of its operations.
Imagine it, the Celestial conmen in SL, forced to be accountable at last.
It would be seismic if this law went nationwide. The financial conmen in SL would be shi--ing themselves and it could literally bring the church to its knees. Bring it on!

...the Church's tax lawyers and accountants are already on the case. Using the Bain/Romney model, they could create a number of offshore shell entities based in established Caribbean tax havens. They will donate the 30% to, say, "The Cayman Island Relief Fund", or "Haitian Children's Project". Then, sit on the money for a while , then slowly filter the $$$ back into the pot...but for sure they are already working on this.

I hate to say it but you are probably correct. And the financial juggling/ money laundering that they are currently doing right now is probably every bit as complex. this will just be the latest chapter if they have to do it.

Im guessing this applies ONLY to Oregon State (income) taxes; usually states with income taxes follow federal rules on which deductions are allowable... but (I GUESS) they don't have to.


WOW! WAY TO GO, OREGON!!!!

Next: Property taxes!

The question is does it apply to churches? And yes, it does apply to property taxes.

"The charities also will lose their local property tax exemptions."

That's the real question. I suspect that churches will have some type of exception. I could be wrong, and I hope that I am. Of course, giving money to a university, even BYU, would be considered charitable, so they will do what they do in Canada and Europe, and show a big bulk of the money as going to BYU. This will allow them to then not spend other money on BYU, that they can then apply to malls and other real estate ventures.

Yeah, BYU is a handy charity. So "humanitarian" of TSCC to give money to their own BYU arm.

That story recently posted here on the Canadian tithing really blew me away.

Oh hooooleeeee maaaddreeee!

Even if this is just a state law, it would be wonderful to see the morg have to disclose its' super secret (or is it sacred) financial reports of dealings within the state as to what is charity and what is gravy for cult overlords salaries.

Items like property reinvestment and top 15 salaries would not be able to be detected, but it would be a start on the morg's scam. At least some portion of their functions within this slow witted state would be public information. In the land of slow witted hicks all I can say is that THERE IS NO WAY THE MORG IS DONATING 30% OF DONATIONS TO CHARITY - NOT BY A LONG SHOT - AND NOT BY A LOOSE DEFINITION OF CHARITY.

Now after saying all this it sounds too good to be considered as a law that could pass in the old moldy of slow wits. There has got to be a catch on this law. I've been here too long to think this state's legislature with it's super rural hicks that can tantrum their way out of anything indicating progress could possibly allow this to pass - or I guess more importantly not to be misleading about it's intent.

I'm proud to be an Oregonian today! Assuming churches didn't get a loophole here...

RG

No philanthropic deductible on Taxachusetts income tax. None.

That's where the Temple building programme comes in....

It strikes me as unwieldy and probably unconstitutional. How will actual "charity" be defined? And by whom? Non-nterference in church matters, absent clear fraud, is absolute in the USA. Churches will see this as a shot across the bow, with government control of the pulpit the next step.

One more reason I absolutely love the state of Oregon. I would love to hear the spin LDS inc will put on this, and love the idea that a conversation is being started that may require LDS inc opening their books for public scrutiny.

I hope this catches on with other states if it applies to churches. Just starting a church and getting a tax exemption because you stand on a pulpit and preach drivel has always been a scam. It's about time we put an end to it. Mormons aren't the only ones doing this.

The sad thing is, most people do not make enough to even take the "tax deduction" for charity.

They have too many other things that drop their tax base; education credit, travel expenses, spouse/children deductions, house or mortgage expenses.

I took Oregon tax law last year. I was surprised. Families that made 50 to 80 thousand a year didn't have to pay taxes! They had children, education, and other 'expenses' that dropped their taxable base to where they would get a 'tax return' or pay less than $1000. This was with two kids and both parents working.

To get your 'charity' tax you have to be making a lot. The 'charity' tax is limited around your adjusted gross income to be a deduction. You can't donate a large amount and expect to be able to deduct all of it. There is a cap. As I remember it is a lot less than what the TSCC has you pay.

So it looks good on paper. It doesn't apply to the rank and file people who make enough to file tax returns. Too many people in Oregon never even come close to making enough to be able to use a "charitable" tax deduction.

Wish it would force the TSCC to open their books....sigh ;P

Here the form to fle a complaint, you can also call, or fill out an online form.

http://www.doj.state.or.us/charigroup/download/inquiry.pdf

http://www.doj.state.or.us/charigroup/pages/complaint.aspx

Sme have posted the Mormons are already counter planning to avoid accountability. No question, tax cheats are tax cheats, some make a good living creating and helping people and organization cheat taxes.

This is not a good reason to not press them on this matter, at least find out what is going on with Oregon with respect to the Mormon Church. Oregon does not have sales tax so a large part of the revenues used to operate the state come from income and property taxes. This is where the Mormon church is a major parasite.

Mormonism doesn't have to win, they are pretending to be bigger than they are so that they appear relevant, this includes politics as well as proselytizing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2013 11:19AM by gentlestrength.

LDS Inc should be reminded of its counsel to avoid the very appearance of evil.

Does not apply to:

"An organization that is not required to file annual reports with the Attorney General."

Which almost certainly would include churches.

(f) An organization that is not required to file an Internal Revenue Service Form 990
return or an equivalent Internal Revenue Service return;

That definitely means churches are not subject to the new law.

Just got off the phone with an attorney at the office of the Oregon Attorney General. We talked first this morning and he researched and confirmed that this law does not apply to churches, he used the term "mainstream churches".

This is understandable, but should not be discouraging. He said they would accept complaints, but that they were like to not have merit with respect to this law. Complaints are, however, a way to get this conversation started and he did have interest in many of the points being made about how the Mormon church operates financially, politically, and as a charity.

The main issue also is that tax exempt status is negotiated at the Federal level by the IRS. This does not mean that a state like Oregon, Washington, Colorado, or California couldn't become a co-complaintant against the Mormon church if they were to be found in violation of tax-exempt regulations.

Those who see any value in keeping the heat on Mormons please keep vigilant and press, press, press. Keep eyes open and document. Politics in Mormon buildings and by Mormon leaders in Mormon buildings. Misuse of funds that are afforded tax exempt status. The Mormons are screwing up, we just need to call them n it.

Also, "mainstream Church", 14+ million or 3 to 5 million, telling people they are 14+ million. Would love to see that discussed in the NY Times or The Rolling Stone. Get on reporters that use that 14+ million number. It's made up.

That's fabulous!! Good thing we don't pay anymore.

Oregon is a progressive state. Death with Dignity law and green in more ways than one :)
The cult is losing big money in tithing from members finding out the fraud and leaving in ever increasing numbers..

Monson and Packer will continue to drive the church into the ground with talks on stricter obedience and temple attendance as the "Last Days" are right now. tee hee hee

To (lil' 'ol) me 'Charity' means:

where gifts/resources are

1) available to people regardless of their political/religious affiliation(s), not directed inwardly to a select few.

2) Widely, externally publicized so others are aware of programs/help available.

3) the %s that go to PROGRAM, & to admin. overhead is also published/easily available

ALL THREE of those are COUNTER to the way the Morg does things.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2013 05:18PM by guynoirprivateeye.

So Oregon is making a restriction of sorts on their state tax requirement for deductions. And who is going to audit charities to prove they are at the 30% level and what qualifies as "charity"...? I suppose this is all defined??

Someone set me straight if I am off base here, but that's just the state level.

Isn't the Federal level still the same?
I know we used to list deductions (with a CPA) each year and get the charity deduction, including the verification of contributions given out by the LDS Church.

And YES YES YES I called our Tax Refunds ---- Tithing Refunds!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2013 08:28PM by SusieQ#1.