NBC News: Mormon church earns $7 billion a year from tithing, analysis indicates

[Newsjock]

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/13/13262285-mormon-church-earns-7-billion-a-year-from-tithing-analysis-indicates

If the Mormon church were a business, wealthy adherents like Mitt Romney would count as its dominant revenue stream.

... Relying heavily on church records in countries that require far more disclosure than the United States, Cragun and Reuters estimate that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints brings in some $7 billion annually in tithes and other donations.

It owns about $35 billion worth of temples and meeting houses around the world, and controls farms, ranches, shopping malls and other commercial ventures worth many billions more.

... Church spokesman Michael Purdy declined to comment specifically on the estimates but said that the church was different from a corporation.

[msongs]

1. it is a for profit business masquerading as a religion nt

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. even if not...this is f'in ridiculous

[jberryhill]

4. Nawwww... Not something started by Joseph Smith!

[cleanhippie]

7. Thats a pretty apt description for ALL religions.

[hifiguy]

20. A colossal scam invented by a convicted felon.

Yet more proof that Barnum was right: There's a sucker born every minute and two to take him.

[Raster]

3. Here is a link on Bloomberg Business to a slideshow that helps to detail LDS property holdings:

http://www.businessweek.com/slideshows/2012-07-11/the-mormon-global-business-empire#slide1

I would also like to add that Bloomberg Businessweek also did a very in-depth article about the church's finances, WHICH IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE. In this article: "Inside the Mormon Corporate Empire," it stated some very remarkable similarities to the church and a corporation. In fact, the entity is called "the Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."

[progressoid]

5. A lot of the commenters are defending LDS

Weird.

[Tom Ripley]

6. They received their marching orders from their bishops

[loli phabay]

8. if people want to tithe to their church then it dosent matter how much they raise.

[Raster]

9. No it doesn't. However, once the church uses those funds and invests them...

...AGGRESIVELY in for-profit enterprises, then the church should be paying taxes just like other businesses.

[RockaFowler]

10. And uses the money politically

Like the Prop h8 campaign . . .

[DearAbby]

11. AMEN

They jump from being a tax free house of worship to a Corporation. They found their loophole.

[Missycim]

14. Dont they

pay taxes if they own a business, like a mall or something?

[HereSince1628]

12. LDS churches auxillary enterprises aren't incorporated?

I am shocked!

Imagine the liability?????

[malaise]

13. Stealing from the government for the religion

[Missycim]

16. where are they stealing from

the Government? I thought they paid taxes on any business they owned, just stuff like tithing and church property is tax free.

[Initech]

15. How can they get away with paying zero taxes on any of that???

[sarcasmo]

17. Is 5 % tax on 7 billion 350 million? Tax the religious thieves and watch

how quickly we balance the budget.

[Initech]

18. Screw that - make em pay a 15% tax on that until we.balance the budget.

Time to end the free ride here, IRS....

[sarcasmo]

19. I would agree with the 15%. I was just trying to wrap my head

around the amount of zeros.

[Initech]

21. Yeah it's pretty disgusting isn't it?

I was reading about a church here (this is California - not the deep south) that purchased an abandoned Boeing facility for $20 million with a $25 million expansion planned to use as it's new facility. Now I'm thinking how does a church have that much money and why are they not paying taxes on it?