Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

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Sunain
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Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Sunain »

I have posted the CRA link multiple times here over the years on the forum but it appears that the mainstream media in Canada has finally picked up on it as the 5th Estate is doing a whole episode dedicated to tithing funds being funneled out of Canada to fund BYU.
  • In the last 15 years, the LDS church in Canada has moved more than $1 billion
  • The church's tax-free status meant the move may have cost the Canadian treasury as much as $280 million
  • In the fall of 2018, there were 1,394 Canadian students in the three LDS schools, representing 1.6 per cent of the student body that semester.
Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free — and it's legal
Money collected for charity transferred to Latter-day Saints’ university in U.S.

As a chartered professional accountant, part of Nigel Kennett's job is financial audits.

While reviewing the books of a religious organization, the Edmonton resident decided to take a look at the finances of his own church, using the website of the Canada Revenue Agency.

He typed "the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" into the search box, and checked the first hit.

silverado
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by silverado »

Sunain wrote: October 27th, 2022, 8:07 am I have posted the CRA link multiple times here over the years on the forum but it appears that the mainstream media in Canada has finally picked up on it as the 5th Estate is doing a whole episode dedicated to tithing funds being funneled out of Canada to fund BYU.
  • In the last 15 years, the LDS church in Canada has moved more than $1 billion
  • The church's tax-free status meant the move may have cost the Canadian treasury as much as $280 million
  • In the fall of 2018, there were 1,394 Canadian students in the three LDS schools, representing 1.6 per cent of the student body that semester.
Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free — and it's legal
Money collected for charity transferred to Latter-day Saints’ university in U.S.

As a chartered professional accountant, part of Nigel Kennett's job is financial audits.

While reviewing the books of a religious organization, the Edmonton resident decided to take a look at the finances of his own church, using the website of the Canada Revenue Agency.

He typed "the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" into the search box, and checked the first hit.
Fund BYU with Canadian citizens sacred tithing funds? Hmmm...I don't have any positive comment about that.

Sunain
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Sunain »

silverado wrote: October 27th, 2022, 10:24 am [Fund BYU with Canadian citizens sacred tithing funds? Hmmm...I don't have any positive comment about that.
I had no problems with my tithing money going to BYU in the past but they stopped enforcing the Honor Code and following the doctrine and teachings of Christ. Coupled with the membership hack, a stock portfolio of evil corporations, the COVID vaccine, UN, and Red Cross donations, I don't know how ANY member of can justify paying tithing to the church in its current state.

Stating that it's not our responsibility as members of the church to say where the church funds go is not a valid excuse and makes us culpable for the money not being used morally. The Lord will hold the leadership and the members of the church responsible.

Mamabear
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Mamabear »

Similar things are happening in Australia. Watch the sneak peek:

https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comment ... australia/

Maroriginal1
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Maroriginal1 »

I have issue with the church funding BYU. It made sense when the church was small and all local members actually had access to a quality morally conservative school. BYU now only takes the academic elite or culturally diverse. The law of tithing was never designed to support discrimination and it’s far from the law of consecration. I’ve seen kids with severely induced anxiety, eating disorders, and limited social life because they have to have perfect grades, a perfect image to go to BYU, and felt pressure to make their parents look good for doing all the right things. Not all kids I’ve known that go there are like this, but enough for me to be bothered by it. I’ve put a kid through school and it’s a financial challenge! It bothers me that tithing is paying for other kids tuitions yet my B+ student pays the way. I don’t believe less in the church because it. I don’t stop paying tithing over it. I’m just filing it away in my Isaiah prophesy notes that’s getting uncomfortably large as of late.

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Subcomandante
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Subcomandante »

Sunain wrote: October 27th, 2022, 11:51 am
silverado wrote: October 27th, 2022, 10:24 am [Fund BYU with Canadian citizens sacred tithing funds? Hmmm...I don't have any positive comment about that.
I had no problems with my tithing money going to BYU in the past but they stopped enforcing the Honor Code and following the doctrine and teachings of Christ. Coupled with the membership hack, a stock portfolio of evil corporations, the COVID vaccine, UN, and Red Cross donations, I don't know how ANY member of can justify paying tithing to the church in its current state.

Stating that it's not our responsibility as members of the church to say where the church funds go is not a valid excuse and makes us culpable for the money not being used morally. The Lord will hold the leadership and the members of the church responsible.
To be understood, I don't understand how any member can justify not paying tithing to the Church. The doctrine is simple. Pay and get blessings. Those that rob the tithes from God for pet projects, they are the ones that will suffer. Those that mishandle tithing funds, they are the ones that will suffer, not you.

Mamabear
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Mamabear »

If anyone is interested in watching/listening to an additional interview with the accountant from Canada, it looks like an it will be posted tomorrow.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comment ... reviews_i/

Sunain
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Sunain »

Mamabear wrote: October 27th, 2022, 1:35 pm If anyone is interested in watching/listening to an additional interview with the accountant from Canada, it looks like an it will be posted tomorrow.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mormon/comment ... reviews_i/
Seems like a coordinated media effort today.

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Reluctant Watchman
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Reluctant Watchman »

Subcomandante wrote: October 27th, 2022, 1:08 pm To be understood, I don't understand how any member can justify not paying tithing to the Church. The doctrine is simple. Pay and get blessings. Those that rob the tithes from God for pet projects, they are the ones that will suffer. Those that mishandle tithing funds, they are the ones that will suffer, not you.
The doctrine is simple, the church has made it complicated. They have distorted its original purpose. And they tithe the poor: https://www.reluctantwatchman.com/tithe-the-poor

You need to understand who was robbing the storehouse in Malachi. It was the church leaders. Just like they are doing today.

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Subcomandante
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Subcomandante »

Reluctant Watchman wrote: October 27th, 2022, 3:41 pm
Subcomandante wrote: October 27th, 2022, 1:08 pm To be understood, I don't understand how any member can justify not paying tithing to the Church. The doctrine is simple. Pay and get blessings. Those that rob the tithes from God for pet projects, they are the ones that will suffer. Those that mishandle tithing funds, they are the ones that will suffer, not you.
The doctrine is simple, the church has made it complicated. They have distorted its original purpose. And they tithe the poor: https://www.reluctantwatchman.com/tithe-the-poor

You need to understand who was robbing the storehouse in Malachi. It was the church leaders. Just like they are doing today.
The members don't rob the storehouse because they send the money to the storehouse to begin with. Those that do rob the storehouse are those who receive the tithing from the members.

This in no way justifies the members if they choose not to tithe. The warning is to the priests, that is true. The severity of the sin is much worse for them than it is for the member that chooses not to tithe.

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largerthanlife2
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by largerthanlife2 »

latterdaysaintmag.com

The Know

When Alma addressed the people of Ammonihah, he reminded them of “the tradition of [their] fathers,” which included the promise: “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper in the land … Inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord” (Alma 9:8, 13). This promise permeates the Book of Mormon and serves as a driving thesis in Mormon’s record.

The first and most detailed expression of this promise is found in 1 Nephi 2:20–24, where the Lord gave this promise to Nephi. In blessing his posterity, Lehi confirmed that this promise had also been given to him. “For the Lord God hath said: Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence” (2 Nephi 4:4; 1:20).

lehi-blessing-jody-livingston

Most expressions of the promise throughout the Book of Mormon best match Lehi’s simple declaration, rather than Nephi’s fuller description of the promise.[1] This suggests Lehi is the source from which later Nephites drew and Nephite tradition traced the promise back to him. Indeed, Alma called upon the people of Ammonihah to “remember the words which [the Lord] spake unto Lehi” (Alma 9:13, emphasis added).[2]

While prosperity is commonly associated with riches in today’s world, as it is at times in both the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 27:7; Alma 1:30–31) and Bible (Psalms 73:12), this is not what is meant by “prosper in the land.” The promise is structured as an antithetical parallelism wherein two parallel phrases express opposite meanings.[3] Thus, comparing the two conditions side-by-side provides an important clue to what Lehi meant by the word “prosper”:

Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments,
ye shall prosper in the land;

but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments,
ye shall be cut off from my presence.

The parallel expressions “prosper in the land” and “cut off from [the Lord’s] presence” are clearly set up as opposites to each other. This indicates that prospering in the land is equivalent to having the Lord’s presence. That the Nephite record keepers understood this equivalence is shown by the way Amaron substitutes “ye shall be cut off from my presence” with “ye shall not prosper in the land” (Omni 1:6).

Sunain
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Sunain »

Subcomandante wrote: October 27th, 2022, 6:49 pm The members don't rob the storehouse because they send the money to the storehouse to begin with. Those that do rob the storehouse are those who receive the tithing from the members.

This in no way justifies the members if they choose not to tithe. The warning is to the priests, that is true. The severity of the sin is much worse for them than it is for the member that chooses not to tithe.
Not when you know the money is being abused, you don't enable an abuser. The church is in the wrong here, not the faithful members wanting to pay their tithing. Do not transfer sin onto the sinless. It's more sinful to know that tithing is being used for evil purposes and do nothing about it. The Lord also wants us to be wise in all things including how we pay our tithes.

Ephesians 6:13 - Let us be wise in all things, and keep all the commandments of God, that our salvation may be sure.

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h_p
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by h_p »

FWIW, I think if there's a legal way to keep a kleptocratic government from getting your money, go for it. There's no shame in it. What the church does with its money is another matter entirely. But it's not like the Canadian government is deserving of anything it's taking from its people, and as far as I'm concerned, every last one of them can swing from a rope.

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BuriedTartaria
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by BuriedTartaria »

Mormon Book Reviews will be covering the story too

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thaabit
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by thaabit »

Here's my summary:
- church donates Canadian tithing money to BYU (and that's bad)
- BYU doesn't coddle gay students (and that's bad)
- here's some mostly disaffected whistleblowers telling us stuff we already knew about ensign peak etc
- church used tithing funds to build a mall (and that's bad)
- the church doesn't coddle gay members (and that's bad)
- here's a couple small clips of E.Bednar (is he bad?)
- i walked in the CHQ in a t-shirt and they didn't let me interview the prophet and every GA (and that's bad)
- the government should have all that money because the government is good! (and that's bad)

I'm being a bit facetious, as per usual, but this wasn't great reporting. Someone equated this program to 60 Minutes, which is sad. It felt like an amateurish hit piece on the church.

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ransomme
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by ransomme »

Sunain wrote: October 27th, 2022, 8:07 am I have posted the CRA link multiple times here over the years on the forum but it appears that the mainstream media in Canada has finally picked up on it as the 5th Estate is doing a whole episode dedicated to tithing funds being funneled out of Canada to fund BYU.
  • In the last 15 years, the LDS church in Canada has moved more than $1 billion
  • The church's tax-free status meant the move may have cost the Canadian treasury as much as $280 million
  • In the fall of 2018, there were 1,394 Canadian students in the three LDS schools, representing 1.6 per cent of the student body that semester.
Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free — and it's legal
Money collected for charity transferred to Latter-day Saints’ university in U.S.

As a chartered professional accountant, part of Nigel Kennett's job is financial audits.

While reviewing the books of a religious organization, the Edmonton resident decided to take a look at the finances of his own church, using the website of the Canada Revenue Agency.

He typed "the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" into the search box, and checked the first hit.
Lol it didn't cost Canada anything. It's not the government's money. If donations are given to a charity they can disperse those funds as they want.

Tax is theft anyhow.

Lizzy60
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Lizzy60 »

https://www.smh.com.au/national/mormon- ... 5blbc.html

Another article about the LDS Church’s investments and charitable giving, from Sydney, Australia.

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Niemand
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Niemand »

DISCLAIMER: I can't vouch for the accuracy of these figures, but they seem realistic.

Canada
2001 pop 29,639,035. LDS 101,805.
2011 pop 32,852,320. LDS 105,365.
2021 pop 36,991,981. LDS, 87,725.

Quebec
2001 pop 7,125,580. LDS 4,420.
2011 pop 7,732,520. LDS 4,415.
2021 pop 8,501,883. LDS 4,600.

Ontario
2001 pop 11,285,545. LDS 20,355.
2011 pop 12,651,790. LDS 20,640.
2021 pop 14,223,942. LDS 16,420

Manitoba
2001 pop 1,103,700. LDS 1,700.
2011 pop 1,174,345. LDS 1,845.
2021 pop 1,342,153. LDS 1,640.

Saskatchewan
2001 pop 963,150... LDS 2,885.
2011 pop 1,008,760. LDS 3,050.
2021 pop 1,132,505. LDS 2,060.

Alberta
2001 pop 2,941,150. LDS 50,580.
2011 pop 3,567,980. LDS 55,625.
2021 pop 4,262,635. LDS 47,125.

British Columbia
2001 pop 3,868,875. LDS 17,590.
2011 pop 4,324,455. LDS 15,940.
2021 pop 5,000,879. LDS 12,875.

Selected Cities

Calgary metro area, AB
2001 pop 943,315... LDS 13,070.
2011 pop 1,199,125. LDS 12,990.
2021 pop 1,481,806. LDS 11,715.

Lethbridge metro area, AB
2001 pop 66,270.. LDS 5,680.
2011 pop 102,785. LDS 8,090.
2021 pop 123,847. LDS 6,500

Edmonton metro area, AB
2011 pop 927,020... LDS 7,890.
2011 pop 1,140,000. LDS 8,920.
2021 pop 1,418,118. LDS 8,250

Vancouver metro area, BC
2001 pop 1,967,480. LDS 5,220.
2011 pop 2,280,695. LDS 5,125.
2021 pop 2,642,825. LDS 3,565.

Montréal metro area
2001 pop 3,380,645. LDS 2,825.
2011 pop 3,752,475. LDS 2,855.
2021 pop 4,291,732. LDS 3,120.

Toronto metro area
2001 pop 4,647,960. LDS 5,755.
2011 pop 5,521,235. LDS 5,515.
2021 pop 6,202,275. LDS 4,090.

Sources:
2021
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-rece ... ng=E&HPA=1

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Ebenezer
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Ebenezer »

ransomme wrote: October 28th, 2022, 7:59 am
Sunain wrote: October 27th, 2022, 8:07 am I have posted the CRA link multiple times here over the years on the forum but it appears that the mainstream media in Canada has finally picked up on it as the 5th Estate is doing a whole episode dedicated to tithing funds being funneled out of Canada to fund BYU.
  • In the last 15 years, the LDS church in Canada has moved more than $1 billion
  • The church's tax-free status meant the move may have cost the Canadian treasury as much as $280 million
  • In the fall of 2018, there were 1,394 Canadian students in the three LDS schools, representing 1.6 per cent of the student body that semester.
Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free — and it's legal
Money collected for charity transferred to Latter-day Saints’ university in U.S.

As a chartered professional accountant, part of Nigel Kennett's job is financial audits.

While reviewing the books of a religious organization, the Edmonton resident decided to take a look at the finances of his own church, using the website of the Canada Revenue Agency.

He typed "the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" into the search box, and checked the first hit.
Lol it didn't cost Canada anything. It's not the government's money. If donations are given to a charity they can disperse those funds as they want.

Tax is theft anyhow.
I agree. But the problem here is that once again the church is being sneaky with tithing funds. It seems like every few months we learn about some new, creative, way that the church moves money around to enrich itself. They are very good at exploiting tax loopholes. Meanwhile, members pay tithing believing that every penny buys a Book of Mormon or a temple or helps some poor kid in Brazil serve a mission.

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ransomme
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by ransomme »

Ebenezer wrote: October 31st, 2022, 11:31 pm
ransomme wrote: October 28th, 2022, 7:59 am
Sunain wrote: October 27th, 2022, 8:07 am I have posted the CRA link multiple times here over the years on the forum but it appears that the mainstream media in Canada has finally picked up on it as the 5th Estate is doing a whole episode dedicated to tithing funds being funneled out of Canada to fund BYU.
  • In the last 15 years, the LDS church in Canada has moved more than $1 billion
  • The church's tax-free status meant the move may have cost the Canadian treasury as much as $280 million
  • In the fall of 2018, there were 1,394 Canadian students in the three LDS schools, representing 1.6 per cent of the student body that semester.
Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free — and it's legal
Money collected for charity transferred to Latter-day Saints’ university in U.S.

As a chartered professional accountant, part of Nigel Kennett's job is financial audits.

While reviewing the books of a religious organization, the Edmonton resident decided to take a look at the finances of his own church, using the website of the Canada Revenue Agency.

He typed "the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" into the search box, and checked the first hit.
Lol it didn't cost Canada anything. It's not the government's money. If donations are given to a charity they can disperse those funds as they want.

Tax is theft anyhow.
I agree. But the problem here is that once again the church is being sneaky with tithing funds. It seems like every few months we learn about some new, creative, way that the church moves money around to enrich itself. They are very good at exploiting tax loopholes. Meanwhile, members pay tithing believing that every penny buys a Book of Mormon or a temple or helps some poor kid in Brazil serve a mission.
I don't believe in fairy tales, I think they send my money to the UN, to pay for malls, or is given to Gates "of Hell" Bill.

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gkearney
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by gkearney »

If the Canadian government does not wish for these kind of financial transfers to take place they have the means to put a stop to it by way of legislation.

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Niemand
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Niemand »

gkearney wrote: November 1st, 2022, 12:40 am If the Canadian government does not wish for these kind of financial transfers to take place they have the means to put a stop to it by way of legislation.
A Catch 22, because the Canadian Government has already overstepped the mark in terms of interfering with religion.

But if tithing money was kept within non-US countries then it would at least force them to invest or spend it locally. They could pay for janitors, use buildings for more activities etc.

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h_p
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by h_p »

Ebenezer wrote: October 31st, 2022, 11:31 pm They are very good at exploiting tax loopholes.
I see this as every citizen's or subject's duty. It should be considered a virtue. Nobody gives money to a private organization expecting that organization to willfully give a percentage of it to the government. If I wanted my money to go to a government, I'd give it to the government.

A organization breaking a law to keep their money is a different matter altogether, of course.
Meanwhile, members pay tithing believing that every penny buys a Book of Mormon or a temple or helps some poor kid in Brazil serve a mission.
For this: shame on the church. They owe us transparency.

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Niemand
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Re: Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free

Post by Niemand »

h_p wrote: November 1st, 2022, 7:28 am For this: shame on the church. They owe us transparency.
They're required to be transparent here. Which is a good thing. Unfortunately it doesn't tell us what they do internationally or within the USA.

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