In regard to JW finances in France, here is something I posted to H2O in November 2000. Back taxes owed by the Society in France amounted to around $38.9 million on January 18, 1999, significantly more than the $2.9 million shown in the chart posted by Kent, and apparently adding up to about two year's total income for the Society in France. This tax figure ballooned from an original $19.7 because the Society did not pay Caesar's things to Caesar when first asked.
If you'd like to look at these figures in your own currency, try:
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi
When I checked just now, 1 French Franc = 0.139474 U.S. Dollars
Ginny
Posted by Ginny Tosken [GinnyT] on November 08, 2000 at 13:48:12 {2D/QBXsh1U7fLSrSG9icFbqv3I7Em.}:
On the TJ Recherches mailing list, Charles Chasson posted a paragraph-by-paragraph rebuttal of the tract recently distributed in France by the WTS.
I found the financial information especially interesting and asked Charles' permission to share a part of his post here. He kindly agreed. My translations are rough, but I think enough comes through to get the general idea. I use the BabelFish program to give me a base translation and then comb through it with a French dictionary. Any mistakes are probably mine, not Charles'.
Ginny
In answer to the paragraph that says:
A tax on their church-offering [or donations], with heavy penalties, is thus required retroactively for the years 1993 to 1996. All to be paid by the faithful [followers], the great majority of whom live with modest means.
Charles Chasson quotes from Report No. 1687 of the National Assembly (p. 195):
The audit of the Association of Jehovah's Witnesses revealed the existence of a receipt of 250,579,860 francs received in the form of gifts between January 1, 1993 and August 31, 1996. In accordance with the General Tax Code, these gifts were subject to gift taxes calculated at the rate applicable to transfers on a purely free basis between non-related people, that is to say 60%. This resulted in back taxes owing of about 150.3 million francs. Since the Association did not pay these taxes within the deadlines, late interest was added, that is to say 26.8 million francs, calculated pursuant to article 1727 at the rate of 0.75 % per month. Moreover, the same association did not deposit, within an extension of 30 days following a second declaration, a formal warning containing [the indication of elements to retain for assessment? {I am not sure how to translate this.}] or the liquidation of these rights. Consequently the increase to 80% (that is to say approximately 120.3 million francs) envisaged in article 1728.3 of the same code was applied. The total of taxes and penalties against the Association of Jehovah's Witnesses thus reached 297.4 million francs, summons put in recovery on January 18, 1999."
Charles Chasson comments:
You will notice that the Jehovah's Witnesses, true to their legendary humility, did not answer a request for a declaration in spite of a second formal warning, which was worth an additional 123 million francs to them and for which the penalties of delay, despite the extension given by the administration, are 23 million francs. The Jehovah's Witness chiefs are responsible for more than half of the sum which they owe to the tax services!!!
I (Ginny) translated this into dollars and was amazed. The WTS take in France over three years was about $33 million. That's $11 million a year! [From the chart posted by Kent, their yearly income for 1998 is given as $19.8 million.] If they'd paid the taxes when first asked, the bill would have been $19.7 million. Because they delayed, the bill was something like $38.9 million on January 18, 1999. Their refusal to pay has already cost the faithful at least $19.2 million dollars, not to mention legal expenses, travel, the expense of moving equipment around, and the costs of printing tracts about the issue.
I'd question the figures, especially a harsh penalty adding 80% of the amount due if not paid on time, but Charles Chasson quotes from a National Assembly report itself.
Charles Chasson continues:
There is no personal enrichment at the Jehovah's Witnesses, all is sacrificed to the idol that is their organization which will seize the power at the time of the New System upon which Jehovah's Witnesses wait--fanaticism is not inevitably related to personal enrichment and stock exchange appreciation. But while Jehovah's Witnesses pretend to their followers not to have any more money, the parliamentary commitee reveals what follows (p.194):
c) The Absence of Declaration of Income from Inheritance
Sectarian associations are often holders, as has been seen, of financial securities which earn income for them. Pursuant to article 206-5 of the General Tax Code, the associations not subjected to the corporation tax "are subject to that tax because . . . of the incomes from movable capital" they have. Regardless of the profitable character of their activities, all associations are thus taxable on the basis of their financial products. In spite of the importance of the income drawn from its financial assets, the Association of Jehovah's Witnesses did not conform, before its audit, with this provision. It consequently underwent a recall of tax of 7.3 million francs for the products received between September 1992 and August 1996."
Charles continues:
Wouldn't it be interesting to know how much capital it takes to generate 7.3 million [francs] payment of back taxes in 4 years? As by chance besides, our Jehovah's Witness heads had forgotten to declare this kind of revenue.
In the same vein (p.155):
The financial fixed assets and marketable securities held by the national authorities of Jehovah's Witnesses reached, as of August 31, 1998, 62.9 million francs. Local associations of the same sect would have also carried out financial placements which, according to the information submitted to the Commission, would have represented nearly 500 million francs deposited on the network of only one bank. This information does not correspond to the estimates of the national persons in charge of the Jehovist organization who declared before the Commission that the credit of local associations reached a total of 600 million francs, primarily consisting of real estate investments."
