cinepro Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 One of my favorite podcasts is the NPR's "Planet Money". This week's podcast is especially interesting, since they discuss a question that I've only heard discussed among LDS:What Mormons Can Teach the IRSThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that each Mormon in good standing should tithe 10 percent of his or her income."That's written in stone, and preached from the pulpit," says Gordon Dahl, an economist at the University of California, San Diego, who is Mormon.But while the church is very precise about that figure — 10 percent of income — it does not tell its members what income means."Which is really interesting to us economists, because we want to know how people define income," says Dahl.As anyone who has ever done their taxes knows, figuring out what counts as income is harder than it sounds.On the show today, we look into how Mormons figure out how much to tithe, and what that tells us about how people think about income and taxes.Check it out.
thesometimesaint Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 cinepro:The Church has no enforcement mechanism other than the honesty of its members. The honest US members of the Church pay both tithing and taxes as required by their religion and the law.
cinepro Posted March 10, 2012 Author Posted March 10, 2012 cinepro:The Church has no enforcement mechanism other than the honesty of its members. The honest US members of the Church pay both tithing and taxes as required by their religion and the law.I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you haven't listened to the podcast yet.
Tepui Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 NPR agrees the law of tithing is much simpler than the IRS code.duh!
Scott Lloyd Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 (edited) One of my favorite podcasts is the NPR's "Planet Money". This week's podcast is especially interesting, since they discuss a question that I've only heard discussed among LDS:What Mormons Can Teach the IRSCheck it out.A highly interesting podcast. Thank you. As I thought about the conclusions, it occurred to me that antagonists would, if they could, destroy a highly successful system by removing two of the key elements: simplicity and the trust the giver has in the institution. This is exemplified in, say, misguided carping about the Church "buying shopping malls" or when people who don't pay tithing and have no intention of paying it in any case complain that the Church does not open its financials to the gaze of antagonistic outsiders. Were I the devil, I think I would try to prompt people to attack the Church of Jesus Christ in just such a manner. Edited March 10, 2012 by Scott Lloyd
Tepui Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 I did listen to the 15min podcast. In this instance NPR agreed with the Church." For many years, presidents of the Church have interpreted “interest” as “income.” Beyond that, they have not elaborated. That fourth verse consists of thirty-five words. Contrast that with the cumbersome and complex tax codes enacted and enforced by governments. "So in a more positive - if I were The Lord - light, NPR is agreeing with the Church.
Jeff K. Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 (edited) Interesting and informative.Though how the issue of income is discussed is under the umbrella for what is right, not what to avoid, that is how tithing works. Edited March 10, 2012 by Jeff K.
Jeff K. Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 Rule 1 Trust the end userRule 2 Trust the giverRule 3 Keep it simpleI agree, use your gut.
thesometimesaint Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 cinepro:Technically correct. I read it instead.
Buzzard Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 OTOH, on another board I frequent that is generally not religous, but has a religion category (cougarboard.com), a few weeks ago, there was a discussion involving multiple threads, with passionate defenses of respective positions on gross vs. net, which quickly devolved into what is net, etc... So while the church keeps it simple, a lot of us tend not to. That statement probably applies to more than tithing.
Calm Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 So while the church keeps it simple, a lot of us tend not to. That statement probably applies to more than tithing.Total truth there.
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