Comment by robocat
21 days ago
> [The Mormons] believe in giving 10% of their income
Is that income before tax or after tax?
"After tax" seems like it should be obvious, but then wouldn't that require tax specialists to decide how to deal with tax exceptions (retirement taxation incentives, donations, etcetera).
If the 10% donation is tax deductible, doesn't that require some mathematics to work out the 10%?
Irrelevant aside: I think the efficient altruist 10% is "We're often asked how exactly to calculate income — should it be pre-tax or post-tax? Generally, we recommend choosing the option that makes most sense to you, though we think it makes sense to choose pre-tax if your donations are tax-deductible (for example, GiftAid counts towards your Pledge!) and post-tax if they're not.". https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/pledge
> Is that income before tax or after tax?
It’s up to personal interpretation. Some do before tax, some do after. Some only pay tithing on their regular income (i.e. from a normal job) but not on “already tithed” income (e.g. birthday money from parents), while others do it differently.
The church’s stance is that they say you should pay 10% tithing on your income. They don’t define income. And all they do is ask “do you pay a full tithe?” And it’s up to you to decide if you do or not based on how you view what “income” means.
It's pre-tax. It comes from the Bible where you set it aside "before anything else".
There are endless debates about gross vs net and as with many things in the CoJCoLDS it is left up to the members to decide/define and to self-certify their compliance. Welfare programs are financed via a separate donation program via a monthly fast where the skipped meals expenses are donated to the program.
What about capital appreciation? Business losses?
I presume there are guidelines that get complicated? Like Halakha or Sharia?
I'm not Mormon, so I don't know for sure, but what I hear from people are or were Mormon, the enforcement is a combination of social pressure and the Church demanding you provide them with a copy of your taxes to remain a member. I assume it's pretty loose from there.
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