The Spain Branch, now will pay directly to: bethelites, special pioneers, circuit, district and missionaries... with our money! The congregations must not given money to the full time ministers. The Governing Body Bank wants to have all money in its hands. Now, all these VIP persons, will be a little bit poor. You can read the official letter:
The Spain Branch will pay now to: bethelites, special pioneers, Circuit y Distric and missionaires
by JHK 22 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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LUKEWARM
JHK - do we have an english version of this letter?
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donuthole
Here is a rough translation with help of Google. Please note I do not speak the spanish.
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June 5, 2009
Greetings brothers,
We are writing to inform you of an arrangement that will enter into force in July 2009. As of that date members of the Religious Order of Jehovah's Witnesses (including bethelites, missionaries, special pioneers, traveling overseers and assembly hall care staff) may not receive any monetary payments or reimbursements for their assignments directly from the congregation or circuit assembly hall. They will receive these directly from the branch. However, the branch will collect those payments from the congregation, or assembly hall circuit correspondent.
How will this system work? The Member of the Order shall note the expenditure to be authorized by the congregation, circuit or assembly hall, as usual. The volunteer will forward the completed letter to the branch, and this is who will pay the expense. Subsequently, the branch will in turn charge of the bank account of the Congregation, a circuit assembly hall for the amount of that expenditure. As you can notice, in essence, the only change is who will pay the cost to the volunteer. Up to now the congregation, or assembly hall circuit paid them directly, now the branch will, although the costs will fall on the Congregation, a circuit or assembly hall, as a branch charge on your bank account.
Two brief examples: a bethel member, or special staff member of an Assembly Hall was invited to present a public talk in a congregation. The congregation wants to help with travel costs. They voluntarily complete a note of spending to be approved by the congregation and they send this letter to the branch. This is the amount paid and then charged to the bank account of the congregation. The Bank sends a note by post with a brief description of the expenditure, which will serve as proof. Another example: the circuit overseer presents to the congregation their expenses during the week of his visit to be reimbursed. As before, he completes a note of spending authorization and sends it to the branch together with evidences. The branch will refund the cost and charge the total amount to the bank account of the congregation.
What is the reason for this change? As of 2009 the branch is taxed on amounts on money given to the members of the Order for maintenance, as "employment income". This includes not only what they receive from the branch, but also from congregations, circuits and assembly hall. Therefore, by centralizing all of these payments at the branch will help to ensure that the statements are accurate and can be submitted on time.A copy of this letter should be stored along with the instructions of accounting. This will allow the accounts servant to also be aware of this procedure.
We are confident that we can count with your assistance. Thank you very much for your understanding and goodwill. Please receive our Christian love and affection.
Your brothers,
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nelly136
the only surprising thing is that this wasnt in place years ago.
its a more efficient way of checking that their money is being used for its stated purpose and not being fiddled.
they'll probably have someone pouring over the figures as they come in to see what kind of expenses are being claimed.
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Gayle
At least the Spain government is making it more clear the money operation that the WTS is: "As of 2009 the branch is taxed on amounts on money given to the members of the Order for maintenance, as "employment income". and at least requiring a way to insure some funds for these "volunteers" to have some pension/funds as they age in reality. Isn't it amazing that the "Spain beast" cares more about the long-term care of these JWs than their own organization, since the organization there was forced into this. The WTS promises their workers they will never die and certainly have no accountability for the reality. Obviously, the Spain government knows that JWs have a "paid clergy" which JWs deny.
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Mary
I'll be the lawyers for the Borg poured over this for months trying to figure out a way to avoid having to 'pay back Caesars things to Caesar'. And as Gayle already mentioned, this will at least give the 'members' a bit of income and a little bit to retire on down the road when Armageddon fails to show up.
I wonder how long it'll be before other countries (like the States and Canada) implement this. That would end up costing the WTS a pretty penny in taxes.
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JHK
The key question: Why the WTS pay in Spain and not in the rest of the countries?
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IWillBeDubbedNoMore
Does anyone know how Spain's pension plan works. Would there be a minimum that would have to be paid in by the Society or would it be based on actual income? If it is actual income it won't add up to much.
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MissingLink
I wonder who will actually "pay" this tax though. If the congregation has been giving €100/month to the "volunteer", I wonder if the branch will take out the €20 for tax and send the "volunteer" the remaining €80. Or will they take the €20 out of the general fund and pay the "volunteer" the full €100?
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IWillBeDubbedNoMore
According to this summary of Spain's pension plan dated 2001, the Society has to pay 23.6 % and the "employee" has to pay 4.7%. Perhaps the Society collecting the money and paying it out so they can deduct the 4.7%. If the congregation paid them directly, the Society might have to foot the whole 23.6%.
http://www.urban.org/pdfs/eu_event_spain.pdf
Found on page 8:
The contribution rate for the General Scheme is 28.3 percent, of which 23.6 percent is
paid by the company and 4.7 percent by the worker. This type is the same for special
schemes for maritime and coal mining workers and for the special scheme of selfemployed
workers, although in the latter, contribution is made solely by the selfemployed
worker. The agricultural workers and domestic workers have different rates
and distributions, and in any case, are lower. There is also a specific contribution to
finance unemployment benefits and those arising from work-related accidents.