{"id":230,"date":"2012-02-05T10:12:41","date_gmt":"2012-02-04T21:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kiwimormon.wordpress.com\/?p=230"},"modified":"2015-01-02T15:58:08","modified_gmt":"2015-01-02T02:58:08","slug":"tithing-why-new-zealanders-have-it-harder-than-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/kiwimormon\/2012\/02\/tithing-why-new-zealanders-have-it-harder-than-americans\/","title":{"rendered":"Tithing: Why New Zealanders have it harder than Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"IMG_2263\"<\/a>A couple of years ago I went to my Bishop and spilled my guts about my peevishness over the way the church manages the donations and contributions of its members. \u00a0At the time there was a lot of hoopla in the US about the City Creek Mall redevelopment and the estimated $3.5 billion spent by the church on a high end retail outfit with executive condominiums didn\u2019t seem like a very godly enterprise to me. \u00a0 He just shrugged his shoulders, looked a bit surprised and didn\u2019t have an answer (I didn\u2019t expect him to either, I was just venting).<\/p>\n

Why should I be concerned you might ask \u2013 none of NZ\u2019s money is being spent on shopping malls in America? \u00a0I just think that if \u00a0tithing is generally touted as a principle we should be on board with as good Mormons<\/a>, then its use and application also needs to be a principle that we have a right to be concerned about as well. \u00a0But apparently we aren\u2019t supposed to worry about that. \u00a0We need to worry about how much we pay and whether or not we are being honest with the Lord, not where that money is going after it leaves our hot little hands. \u00a0Frankly I feel a bit cheated by this ethos in Mormonism of \u201cGive then don\u2019t ask\u201d, and I\u2019m struggling to find a scriptural reference or doctrinal justification for all of this secrecy so I\u2019ll just keep asking.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m particularly bothered by the extra burden that those outside the US bear with respect to tithing. \u00a0Last year Dallin Oakes made a senate finance committee appearance to argue against a proposed change to the tax law which would reduce \u00a0the levels of tax deductions that individual contributors can make. \u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s nice\u201d, \u00a0I thought. \u00a0\u201cBut why didn\u2019t apostles come to New Zealand and argue \u00a0eloquently on our behalf so that we could get tax deductions at the same rate as the Americans when all we New Zealanders were getting \u00a0until quite recently was a measly $520 as a rebate on our donations.\u201d \u00a0Americans at the same time could (and still do) get tax deductions on their car use for church business at the rate of $0.14c per mile \u2013 as long as they keep good records. \u00a0And\u2026 they can deduct all of their charitable donations up to same value as 50% of their gross adjusted income \u2013 as long as they complete IRS form 1040 schedule A and include legitimate receipts.<\/p>\n

Its only recently that we have been able to claim 33.3% back as a rebate (thanks to a whig government), and I\u2019m having to ask where was the corporate church \u00a0in all of this? \u00a0I certainly didn\u2019t see any big wigs coming here and showing up to Select Committee hearings on tax law. \u00a0Don\u2019t make the mistake that the COB (acronym for Church Office Building and refers affectionately to the corporate church) aren\u2019t involved in matters of the pocket book here in New Zealand. \u00a0Funnily enough they have been \u2013 and in grand style, not that any of the regulars would be aware because they don\u2019t usually publish these things in the Ensign insert.<\/p>\n

For instance, in 2003 a case was before the High Court of New Zealand applying for an order that<\/p>\n

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> Deseret Benefit Plan for New Zealand be exempt from income tax. \u00a0This would effectively reduce the tax bill for the trustees of the \u00a0benefit plan from almost $1,000,000 to zero for the year ended 31 March 2001. \u00a0The Deseret Benefit Plan is a superannuation plan available only to church employees (ie. the NZCOB) \u00a0but the argument that the church\u2019s legal counsel gave was that plan should be tax exempt because of the charitable purposes of the church as a whole. \u00a0 \u00a0However, the court held that church employees aren\u2019t really regular clergy \u00a0and theoretically much of their work could be done by those without a temple recommend and thus did not qualify for an exemption. \u00a0Anyway, it went nowhere despite the slew of lawyers they sent along at about $350 per hour per each. \u00a0And it needn\u2019t concern us regular members \u00a0because \u00a0it wasn\u2019t for our benefit.<\/p>\n

A couple of years ago Intellectual Reserve, which is a church subsidiary that holds the church\u2019s intellectual property, trademarks and copyrights, \u00a0took a chap from Auckland to court. \u00a0He was trying to set up a family tracing service which incorporated the words \u2018Family Search\u2019 in his domain name. \u00a0This was also thrown out but not without spending upwards of $500,000 (NBR\u2019s estimate) on the case.<\/p>\n

All I\u2019m saying is that the church does get involved \u00a0both legally and politically where it feels the need, so I have to ask why the tax plight of Mormons outside of the continental United States has been largely ignored. \u00a0Clearly they have the resources and will in other contexts to acknowledge the extra financial burden we face in New Zealand as we try to be faithful tithe payers and good citizens.<\/p>\n

When I was growing up the highest marginal tax rate was something in excess of 66% (thanks to a Tory government). \u00a0This meant people I knew who were paying a gross tithe were also needing to get fast offering assistance to feed their families and were using their $520 rebate to get to the temple. \u00a0In my puny estimation that really didn\u2019t add up, \u00a0not when US Mormons were romping about the countryside and jet skiing at Bryce Canyon because of the generosity of the charitable deductions (which includes being able to deduct interest on mortgage payments!).<\/p>\n

I know that the church continue to \u00a0say that the flat 10% is fair, but that would suggest there to be an equality across national boundaries in the tax systems and there clearly is not. And anyway, a flat tithing rate is a bit akin to a flat tax rate which is problematic as well. \u00a0A tithe on $25,000 is quite a different sacrifice for someone \u00a0than a tithe on $250,000! \u00a0 I know that some will argue that all of this is beside the point and God\u2019s law of the tithe supersedes the petty quibbling of a few mortals, but given there is some interest in the temporal exigencies of tithe paying from the church bigguns in other national contexts it would seem that we here in \u00a0New Zealand simply don\u2019t count. \u00a0We just have to keep going and assure ourselves that there is something superior and efficacious in our offerings because when we do it, it hurts.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of years ago I went to my Bishop and spilled my guts about my peevishness over the way the church manages the donations and contributions of its members. \u00a0At the time there was a lot of hoopla in the US about the City Creek Mall redevelopment and the estimated $3.5 billion spent by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,18,22,23],"tags":[37,43,58,80,91,100,101],"class_list":["post-230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lds-church-politics","category-mormon-corporate-culture","category-mormon-political-economy","category-new-zealand-and-us-mormonism","tag-charitable-donations","tag-executive-condominiums","tag-mall-redevelopment","tag-mormon-tithing","tag-new-zealand-mormon-tithing","tag-scriptural-reference","tag-senate-finance-committee"],"yoast_head":"\nTithing: Why New 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