Flashback: Church says members must pay income tax

[Trucker]

Thanks Trucker, and again I ask: What qualifications do they have to evaluate that allegation?

The whistleblower was an accountant who worked there.

Trucker... I suggest you stop before you embarrass yourself any further. What all of a sudden makes you a tax expert and at the same time an expert on Church Investments? A one hour presentation by a money hungry disgruntled former member? I believe he even admitted that only the top 4 people had full access to the financial reports. How is he an expert?

In a world where seemingly nothing can be trusted, I have put my entire faith in Jesus Christ and in what I believe to be his Church. I choose to take their word that everything is done in accordance with the current laws of the land. We know next to nothing about this “whistleblower” but all of a sudden, we are expected to take his word as scripture? I don’t think so!

I don't know why you would be concerned about me embarrassing myself. Perhaps that's just an attempt to shame me.

But would you take the opinion of an active church member who is retired IRS counsel interviewed by KUTV on the subject?

"We sat down Tuesday with retired IRS counsel, Mark Barnes. He litigated cases with the IRS for about three decades. He is also a member of the Latter-day Saint Church and served a mission in Japan.

He tells us if reports thus far are accurate, then, yes, the church has done something wrong here."

https://kutv.com/news/local/did-the-lds ... 00-billion

[Robin Hood]

Just a point of order here.
When Jesus said render unto Caesar the things that are Caesars, he was not advocating the payment of taxes.
His audience were Jews who knew full well that everything belongs to God and that Caesar, nor any other man, was entitled to nothing.
He was being very clever in avoiding the trap the Pharisees were trying to catch him in, probably within earshot of Roman authorities.
I can even imagine him winking as he said it.

[MikeMaillet]

The bigger question for me is why do we pay income tax. I agree that we must share the burden of paying for our legal systems... but income tax should not be the way to do it. I have an agreement with my employer wherein I do stuff for them and they give me something of value in return. It's not the government's business what I do for a living and how much I get paid. Why do most people feel that paying income tax is a civic duty? My country's government has a monopoly on violence and uses it to threaten me to pay up.

Section 134 of the D&C

Verse 2: We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.

I no longer have the free exercise of conscience and the right to control my property has been seriously curtailed.

Verse 3: We believe that all governments necessarily require civil officers and magistrates to enforce the laws of the same; and that such as will administer the law in equity and justice should be sought for and upheld by the voice of the people if a republic, or the will of the sovereign.

Equity and justice? No longer the case.

Verse 4: We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul.

That is changing very rapidly; take a look at Trump's pre-crime plan. Also, start preaching against homosexuality and see how far we get.

I could go on and on. Income tax is an evil construct that was foisted onto the American public shortly after the federal reserve was created. This is not a coincidence. I live in Canada and the timing of these events is a bit different for me but the end result is the same.

The idea of a "fair" amount is what leads to arguments and finger pointing. We begin looking at others and what they pay and sometimes jealousy and mistrust creeps in.

The bottom line is this; we have corrupt governments who use the threat of violence against us to force us to pay a huge amount of the fruits of our labour. For this we get to fund wars, pay for the promotion of trans-genderism and all other types of evils. Our laws no longer protect us and we have become prey to evil governments, police forces...

It has nothing to do with how much we pay but everything to do with the fact that we have become slaves to our respective governments and countries who see their citizenship as just another source of revenue.

Jeepers, I was in a good and positive mood when I got up and now...

All the best,

Mike Maillet
Ingleside, Ontario

[Jamescm]

You know what? I received a letter a week or two ago from the IRS because they borked the tax return I sent in from multiple years ago, demanding some kind of interest in addition to what they said was different between the forms they got and the forms I got. If the Church WERE to do something sneaky or underhanded to avoid them, I wouldn't fault them with any moral failing. (Even if they would do the very same to me) The IRS is evil, and one Article of Faith is not an excuse to prop up evil, just because a government says we should. At its root, a government is nothing more than an entity compelling you to action through force.