Posts by OrphanCrow

40

Canada Branch Finances - What's Going On?

by berrygerry in

an update on the canada branch hasn't been made (i think).. year-over-year, canada's equity decreased by 11 million in 2012, 17 million in 2013.. however, the 2014 report shows a huge increase (20 million) in the cost of "purchased supplies.

" with the shrinkage of the mags, and the push to online, how the heck did this go from 39 million to 58 million?.

even with this number, the equity in 2014 went down by a staggering 56 million.. what the heck is going on?.

OrphanCrow

Sir82, the links in your post go to "page not found".

But I did find an article that gives more information on the highlights of the Tax Reform Proposal:

12 Things Nonprofits Should Know About Proposed Tax Reform

Unrelated Business Income Tax – Currently under the law, tax-exempt organizations may calculate unrelated business income tax (UBIT) based on the gross income of all business activities, minus the deductions connected with carrying on those activities. Losses generated by one activity can be used to offset the gains from another. However, under the Camp legislation, organizations will have to calculate UBIT separately for each business activity. This means that the loss from one unrelated business activity will no longer be used to offset the income from another unrelated trade or business activity. Furthermore, any sale or licensing by a tax-exempt organization of its name or logo (including any related trademark or copyright) will be treated as an unrelated trade or business.

From reading the rest of the article, there are some pretty big changes being proposed to tax law for nonprofits. Here is one:

Payout Requirement for Donor Advised Funds – Donor advised funds will be required to distribute all contributions within 5 years of receipt or otherwise face a 20% excise tax on the amount not distributed.

This one may impact the WTS as well:

Two-percent Floor for Charitable Giving – A two-percent floor will be imposed for charitable donations to qualify for a deduction. This means that taxpayers may only deduct the amount of their charitable giving that exceeds two percent of their AGI. A 2011 study by the Congressional Budget Office determined that this type of two-percent floor would likely cut charitable giving by approximately $3 billion

Would this not impact every JW who contributes? It sounds like they will lose the full amount of their donations as a tax exemption.

40

Canada Branch Finances - What's Going On?

by berrygerry in

an update on the canada branch hasn't been made (i think).. year-over-year, canada's equity decreased by 11 million in 2012, 17 million in 2013.. however, the 2014 report shows a huge increase (20 million) in the cost of "purchased supplies.

" with the shrinkage of the mags, and the push to online, how the heck did this go from 39 million to 58 million?.

even with this number, the equity in 2014 went down by a staggering 56 million.. what the heck is going on?.

OrphanCrow

sir82: But that raises the question - why would a change to Canadian tax law force a worldwide change to revenue structure? Less than 2% of the JW population resides in Canada. Couldn't they just quietly fix things there?

Which leads me to believe that tax laws (in developed countries) for charitable and non-profits are being scrutinized in countries other than just Canada. We are smart up here :p but lots of countries have smart people in them who don't like religions being used as profit making machines.

The UK, for one, has been pretty intense in their investigations into charities, as well as Australia.

No wonder the WTS has focused so much on developing countries - the tax laws are likely different than in developed countries.

40

Canada Branch Finances - What's Going On?

by berrygerry in

an update on the canada branch hasn't been made (i think).. year-over-year, canada's equity decreased by 11 million in 2012, 17 million in 2013.. however, the 2014 report shows a huge increase (20 million) in the cost of "purchased supplies.

" with the shrinkage of the mags, and the push to online, how the heck did this go from 39 million to 58 million?.

even with this number, the equity in 2014 went down by a staggering 56 million.. what the heck is going on?.

OrphanCrow

Morpheus: Why would canda donate the telephoti lens, one charity to another, and get to donate it?

This probably has to do with limits on capital purchases. It is possible that NY has to dilute their capital spending to fall into line with non-profit requirements that capital expenditure have to come from donations. So, gifts are allowed. The lens becomes a gift from Canada to the US. Voila! International charity.

Or something like that...

Crazyguy: I wonder if there was some changes in the tax code of the USA that also led to this?

I have spent some time looking around to see if this is the case but have been unable to find anything conclusive. However, it would not surprise me if it is - what happens in the King of the North is often a reflection of what happens in the King of the South.

If the CRA is clamping down on non-profits here and making them reduce their reserve funds (which long term investments are part of), then it would likely follow that this is the case south of the border, too.

Which might well account for the shortfall that the WTS is experiencing with Walkill. They probably started that project as a way to reduce their reserve fund as a requirement for non-profits to retain their tax status. But the taxman might have, after the project started, told them that they had to dump their long term investments (KH loans) and now the WTS is stuck looking at a double reduction in reserve funds.

Does the IRS publish any tax returns on non-profits like Canada does? It would be interesting to know the amount of money involved in the KH loan forgiveness across the States and elsewhere. The amount has to be many times what was forgiven in Canada and the Canadian amount is almost $36 million. There are 1380 congregations in Canada, and only 434 of them make up that 36 mil. In the States, there are 13,871 congregations. The amount forgiven in the United States must be astronomical.

One more question - was the forgiveness of KH loans only a North American phenomena, or was this policy put in effect globally? Did the WTS forgive the loans in countries that didn't require it for tax exempt purposes?

45

Why a new "World Headquarters"?

by 4thgen in

i just dont get it.

the gb moved to patterson and are conducting business from there, right?

they are not printing as much literature as they once were and they are still operating walkill for the magazines...er a ....pamphlets.

OrphanCrow

I'm definitely more scared of the IRS than I am of Jehovah.

Lol! And now we know who Jehovah really is.

45

Why a new "World Headquarters"?

by 4thgen in

i just dont get it.

the gb moved to patterson and are conducting business from there, right?

they are not printing as much literature as they once were and they are still operating walkill for the magazines...er a ....pamphlets.

OrphanCrow

It probably has to do with tax laws for non-profits.

Building a world headquarters is likely an allowable expense for charitable purposes. It is a place to put their money.

It will have nothing to do with religious matters or growth and everything to do with what they are allowed to spend their money on and not pay tax.

Oubliette: Actually, one of the GB, Guy Pierce, publicly admitted at the 127th annual meeting of the Watch Tower Society, held on October 1st, 2011, that they did NOT know if it is/was Jehovah's will or not to do this.

Yeah, they were probably waiting on a tax ruling.

11

Top Five Things...

by FusionTheism in

jw
friends

what are the top 5 things you hate most about the jw organization and top 5 things you like most?

OrphanCrow

Don't like

1. That it is a patriarchal organization that promotes the oppression and abuse of women

2. That they give out false medical information concerning blood that results in needless deaths

3. That they promote elitism and the consequence of that is the spread of hatred

4. They lie

5. They don't tip well

Like:

1. Their lies are easy to spot

2. They don't come to staff Xmas parties

3. They bring literature to my door that I can use in my artwork

4. They make good subjects for academic research into how authoritarian religious thought is harmful to social behaviour

5. I don't have to buy Xmas gifts or send birthday cards to them - saves me money

42

I need help with this one. What do you think I should do?

by Quarterback in

jw
friends

my wife is pleasant and easy to get along with.

she is also helpful to many.

lately, however, there is a jw sister who some are curious about has befreinded my wife.

OrphanCrow

Quarterback: Come on now, What more can be done?

Quit going to meetings.

40

Canada Branch Finances - What's Going On?

by berrygerry in

an update on the canada branch hasn't been made (i think).. year-over-year, canada's equity decreased by 11 million in 2012, 17 million in 2013.. however, the 2014 report shows a huge increase (20 million) in the cost of "purchased supplies.

" with the shrinkage of the mags, and the push to online, how the heck did this go from 39 million to 58 million?.

even with this number, the equity in 2014 went down by a staggering 56 million.. what the heck is going on?.

OrphanCrow

Yes, Crazyguy, the changes to the WTS is always about the money and I don't think that the CRA was too happy with the way the WTS was conducting its business.

The switch to monthly pledged donations was a forced move by the CRA.

Large reserves may also lead the CRA to suspect an NPO of increasing its capital by improper means. They are of the opinion that any capital projects must be funded by member contributions, gifts, grants, or accumulated incidental profits.

55

Are Jehovah’s Witnesses losing the War on Apostates

by Watchtower-Free in

found this.

http://jwalumni.org/2015/06/08/who-are-jehovahs-witnesses-september-watchtower/.

by misha anouk on 8. june 2015 in news

OrphanCrow

This is great. It really is.

It will be like telling a child not to touch a hot stove - they will do it just because they have been told not to.

Tony just gave great advertising for apostate sites on the internet.

40

Canada Branch Finances - What's Going On?

by berrygerry in

an update on the canada branch hasn't been made (i think).. year-over-year, canada's equity decreased by 11 million in 2012, 17 million in 2013.. however, the 2014 report shows a huge increase (20 million) in the cost of "purchased supplies.

" with the shrinkage of the mags, and the push to online, how the heck did this go from 39 million to 58 million?.

even with this number, the equity in 2014 went down by a staggering 56 million.. what the heck is going on?.

OrphanCrow

I have been doing some more reading about the CRA's rules for charities and non-profit organizations. There has been some recent changes to ensure that these organizations are actually not for profit.

In previous years, the KH loans were reported as "Long Term Investments" but have now been converted to "gifts to qualified donees". There is a tax related reason for this change.

The CRA considers long term investments as profit making ventures and therefore not allowed for non-profits under Canadian tax law.

http://drache.ca/articles/charities-article-archive/non-profit-organizations-and-the-income-minefield/

An overly-large reserve might also indicate the NPO is accumulating for inappropriate (i.e. for-profit) purposes.
A common ‘inappropriate’ purpose is the intention to earn investment income. Interpretation Bulletin IT-496R opines that using accumulated funds for long-term investments is ipso facto a for-profit purpose, taking the organization outside of the scope of section 149(1)(l).

This would explain why, on the 2014 tax return, the long term investments have been reduced so significantly and subsequently, the reserve is much smaller. The WTS was forced to make this change by the CRA. They were likely censured for giving out loans as a profit making venture and, if they hadn't forgiven the loans, they could have lost their tax exempt status.

And now you know why Sophie can't have ice cream - the Tower Daddy lost a whole bunch of that re$erve they had.