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Unemployment Checks


AddamS

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Are Temple Recommend-holding members expected to tithe unemployment checks?

My guess is yes as it is income. My wife guesses no.

It's up to the family to figure that one out, all the bishop/Stake President asks is if you are, not how you are.

My wife and I have a similar situation, last year I was almost run over on the highway. I was knocked off my motorcycle and thank the lord only suffered bad road rash and a sprained wrist. Some time this week I will be receiving a check for approx. $15,000 my share of the settlement after lawyers fees and bills are paid. The money is tax free but it is still income, I have decided to tithe it, which means $1,500 goes to further the work of the Lord. I also tithe my VA disability check even though that is tax free as well.

The point is I decided that for me everything that I receive of monetary value (even a $50 gift card my wife won at work )is income and I tithe 10% I know people that only do taxable income, I know people that only do income after taxes. It's a personal decision, and one that it is between you and the Lord.

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If you paid tithing on your gross, isn't an unemployment check simply money the government is giving you back on which you already paid tithing?

Unemployment is taxed benefit though, it isn't something given back to you it is a income supplement provided to help you get by when you look for work.

If it is taxed it is definitely income by your definition.

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Unemployment is taxed benefit though, it isn't something given back to you it is a income supplement provided to help you get by when you look for work.

If it is taxed it is definitely income by your definition.

No it is income by the government's definition. If I have paid tithing on my gross then I have already paid tithing on any monies I receive BACK from the government in the form of unemployment compensation or even a tax refund.

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No it is income by the government's definition. If I have paid tithing on my gross then I have already paid tithing on any monies I receive BACK from the government in the form of unemployment compensation or even a tax refund.

Tax refund yes, unemployment no.

A tax refund is money owed to you for overpayment of taxed you have tithed this money already, so you don't tithe it again.

Unemployment is income from the government on the condition that you are looking for work and not turning down offers of employment. This is taxed like all other income, it isn't you getting anything back, you are only entitled this taxable income if you met a specific qualifications.

You are not entitled to unemployment if you quit or are fired you can be denied unemployment, it isn't a right it is a privilege and it is considered a legal source of income for tax purposes by the state.

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Are Temple Recommend-holding members expected to tithe unemployment checks?

My guess is yes as it is income. My wife guesses no.

I keep track of what I have stolen from me in the form of unemployment insurance (which I take to mean the government is insuring that, at some point, I will be unemployed). What ever would be larger than that amount is tithable, what ever is less is not (I have already tithed on the tax).

Lehi

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I keep track of what I have stolen from me in the form of unemployment insurance (which I take to mean the government is insuring that, at some point, I will be unemployed). What ever would be larger than that amount is tithable, what ever is less is not (I have already tithed on the tax).

Lehi

This doesn't make sense to me a tax is a tax, your not putting money in a savings account to withdraw later, you paying your taxes as well as every other honest tax payer. So the money you put in is long gone, you are now getting someone else's tax dollars not you own, so your argument holds no weight.

If this was a tax return or a 401k, you would be 100% correct, but you are not correct here. You are not getting your money back, that money went to some unemployed person at the time it was taken from your check. You are getting other people's tax dollars, and it is income so you should tithe it, if you tithe your income.

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Are Temple Recommend-holding members expected to tithe unemployment checks?

My guess is yes as it is income. My wife guesses no.

The answers that say it's between you and the Lord are the correct answers. However, if you're looking for rationale (not necessarily a bad thing) one might consider that if one pays tithing on gross income, one might be justified in thinking that paying tithing in social security or unemployment is not necessary. If you're a really deep thinker, one might note the unlikelyhood of having paid enough tithing on payroll taxes to cover the benefits one has received. But it's not mine to rationalize for anyone else.

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This doesn't make sense to me a tax is a tax, your not putting money in a savings account to withdraw later, you paying your taxes as well as every other honest tax payer.

Theoretically, the unemployment tax is an insurance policy: if I'm laid off, I get some trivial stipend to help keep me in beer and video games until the "benefit" runs out. Then I have to look for work.

I pay tithing on my home owners insurance premiums and i pay tithing on my unemployment insurance premiums. When I collect on either one (as I did when our house burned down), we pay tithing on the "increase". Since the premium was already tithed, we don't have to pay twice, so we subtract that from the payout, and tithe the rest.

Clearer now?

So the money you put in is long gone, you are now getting someone else's tax dollars not you own, so your argument holds no weight.

Then it's all "increase" and we should tithe the whole check. But then I'd be stuck not paying tithing on the insurance policy. Sorry, your method is too complicated.

If this was a tax return or a 401k, you would be 100% correct, but you are not correct here. You are not getting your money back, that money went to some unemployed person at the time it was taken from your check. You are getting other people's tax dollars, and it is income so you should tithe it, if you tithe your income.

Farmers do not tithe their whole income, they subtract the cost of seed corn. It's the same with insurance policies: the cost of the policy is not increase when you collect a benefit.

I tithe the money stolen from me. If I get part of it back, then I do not tithe it again. Taxation is theft, so any return of my own property is not increase. If the state steals money from you, then gives it to me, it is increase (to me, but theft from you) so I tithe it.

Lehi

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Theoretically, the unemployment tax is an insurance policy: if I'm laid off, I get some trivial stipend to help keep me in beer and video games until the "benefit" runs out. Then I have to look for work.

WRONG, it isn't an insurance, it is a social net entitlement, and if you do not actively look for work (in the US at least 3 interviews or applications a week) while collecting unemployment you are committing a felony with a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

You do not have a policy number, it isn't automatic coverage, you have to apply for the benefit after you lose your employment, and meet strict requirements (actively looking for work, willing to accept and job offered and/or attend vocational retraining) if at any time you are collecting benefits and lying about being eligible(by playing video games instead of looking for work) for them you are a breaking federal law and can become a convicted felon.

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I would be disinclined to pay tithing on unemployment checks.

If you don't need 10% of the check for necessary expenses, perhaps it would be better to give it back to the government instead of giving it to a church...?

But ultimately, I would defer to the judgment of my Bishop and just ask him if he wants me to tithe on unemployment.

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LDS Guy 1986

So if you paid into Fire Insurance and your house burned down. You shouldn't collect on the policy because you'd just spend it on playing video games?

Fire insruance is not unemployment, it is two different things.

Fire insurance doesn't require you to be actively looking for work to collect the benefit.

A better analogy is:

Would you expect Fire Insurance to pay you if you were the one that burned down your home because the insurance was worth more than the house?

Sitting at home playing video games while collecting unemployment is a felony, just like burning down your home to collect the fire policy is a felony!

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But ultimately, I would defer to the judgment of my Bishop and just ask him if he wants me to tithe on unemployment.

It isn't the Bishops job to decide something like this for you, that is something that is achieved through pondering and prayer so God can tell you his will for you.

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Unemployment insurance is an insurance check paid to you from your paying of the premiums. It is no different than if your home burns down you collecting the insurance monies. Pay tithing on it if you feel the desire.

Succinctly and correctly said..... That's the bottom line and really all that needs to be said on the subject.

It's "insurance" money's coming back to us. It's up to us if we feel like paying tithing on it, because we have actually already payed tithing on it. Obviously if getting unemployment money's ends up being "long-term", then we should likely start paying tithing on it. But, that's me.

LDS Guy also has a good point, but I think he's taking it unnecessarily too far.

Unemployment IS a form of Insurance not simply an entitlement, because the company's we all work for or own PAY that insurance. Thus, it IS insurance, not an entitlement. TSTS is actually right on this one something politically related. :P

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If I were a bishop and it was asked of me I would say that your own personal and sincere prayers on the issue would be good enough to help you decide. If you feel you are a full tithe payer and you do not need to pay tithing on your insurance, then your only response to me at the end of the year is "I am a full tithe payer". If you feel you should pay, then your only response to me at the end of the year would coincidentally be "I am a full tithe payer".

Being a full tithe payer is between you and the Lord. All I do is count the money. :P

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LDS Guy also has a good point, but I think he's taking it unnecessarily too far.

I am not arguing that one has to tithe unemployment that is between them and the Lord, and only sincere prayer and pondering can get them to that decision. It just seem absurd to me that some feel that unemployment is an automatic right

(like an insurance payment), not a requirement based supplement that is only available while one actively seeks any employment they can fine.

Not that it is enforced at all but to perjurer your eligibility claims on unemployment is a federal offense, if they audit you and find you are not actively looking for work but sitting at home playing X Box till your benefits run out there going to not only come after you for all the benift they paid you but you can be charges with defrauding the government which is a serious felony.

Unemployment is a privilege, and people that abuse it are seriously breaking the law and robbing every taxpayer and business in the country. As LDS to dishonestly collect unemployment insurance is a serious sin, IMO (it's not only dishonest but it is thief).

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I tithe the money stolen from me.

No one is stealing you money, it is a legitimate tax, so thinking that you are entitled to unemployment because you paid your taxes is silly IMO. Your employer also paid just as much unemployment tax as you did on your behalf, so you are stealing the employers tax dollars with you logic, IMO.

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