You see, Jehovah DOES provide
The Spain Branch will pay now to: bethelites, special pioneers, Circuit y Distric and missionaires
by JHK 22 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
... Jehovah provides directly from the pockets of the R&F!
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sir82
Maybe I'm just a little slow this morning, but I don't see what the big deal is. The translation is a bit rough, but it doesn't seem all that controversial:
Old method, prior to July 1 2009: Congregations reimbursed circuit overssers and traveling Bethel speakers directly from their own accounts - the Spain branch was not involved at all.
New method, commencing July 1, 2009: All reimbursements must come from the branch. Congregations let the branch know how much the Bethel speakers' plane fare was, or how much the CO's expenses were, and sends a check to the branch for that amount. Then the branch turns right around and reimburses the Bethel speaker or the CO.
Reason for the change: A change in tax laws. The branch must now pay taxes on "compensation" given to their full-time volunteers - including money paid locally by the congregations. It would be an accounting nightmare to try to keep track of how much the 1000+ congregations in Spain were paying to COs and visiting speakers. By having all monies funnelled thru the Branch, they know how much "income" their "employees" are getting and thus can accurately pay the tax.
Do I misunderstand?
If not, why is this so controversial? Seems like a reasonable business decision to me.
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sir82
The key question: Why the WTS pay in Spain and not in the rest of the countries?
Because the laws in Spain are different than in the "rest of the countries"?
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undercover
Due to new tax laws, the Spanish Branch has to centralize how funds (employment income) are distributed to those eligible, such as traveling overseers. Not that big of a deal, really.
The only way it could hurt the R&F is that if the Branch required each congregation to "donate" so much to the reimbursement fund set up to "pay" traveling overseers, etc. Instead of paying for the expenses of the CO during his visit, twice a year, the Society could force the congregations to give a monthly amount that would amount to more than what they would have paid themselves in a year's time, especially since you know the Society will pass on the tax costs to the congregation.
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wannaexit
If not, why is this so controversial? Seems like a reasonable business decision to
But watchtower is not your regular business. There will be something in it for them. I think they will charge the congregation more that the actual expense reported by CO and others.
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sir82
But watchtower is not your regular business. There will be something in it for them. I think they will charge the congregation more that the actual expense reported by CO and others.
Yeah, I guess the potential for abuse is there. But I don't think it is likely - the reason for doing this is to make the paying of taxes easier to track. If they collect more, they have to pay more taxes.
There may not be another organization on earth that hates to pay tax more than the WTS.
Or do you think they will attempt to rip off the congregations and the Spanish government simultaneously?
I don't think so - the WTS has some of the loopiest Biblical interpretations of any semi-major religion in existence, but they are pretty savvy when it comes to businsess and legal matters. The risk of doing as you propose would be too high.
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OnTheWayOut
Due to new tax laws, the Spanish Branch has to centralize how funds (employment income) are distributed to those eligible, such as traveling overseers. Not that big of a deal, really.
True, true. On the face of this, it is no big deal. I have no problems with a charity figuring out how to maximize their usage of dollars (denero, pesos, Euros) and keep track of expenditures so the government can see where it all goes. Conforming to new laws is fine, or figuring out how to work around new laws is fine.
But c'mon people. The real purpose behind this is to diffuse all the talk about WTS shutting things down in Spain. "THAT TERRIBLE SATANIC GOVERNMENT IS MESSING WITH US. We are not to blame for any changes made in Spain, they are. Not only did we have shut down the presses and ship them out of the country, but we had to change our way of handling finances in Spain." That's what this is really about.
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MissingLink
The problem is that the Spanish JWs contributed a ton of cash to get this facility built, and as soon as "Ceasar" shows up to collect reasonable taxes, the WT runs away with the Spanish cash rather than "paying to Ceasar".
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Scully
I doubt that this is going to stop the COs, etc from accepting monetary or other "gifts" to help them maintain the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed as Jehovah's "humble servants". It will just take on a less traceable format to avoid having to pay taxes on the money exchanged.