VOTE TO REVOKE UK CHARITY STATUS OF JW CHARITIES! URGENT!

by Blablaman 82 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Earnest

  it's a crime that JW’s/WT get Gift Aid

  I fail to understand the point made above. If I make a donation to a charity I am allowed to claim back the tax due on that amount (if I am a taxpayer), usually 20%. If, instead of claiming that money back I decide I would rather the charity have the money then I can complete a Gift Aid application which means that the charity to which I donate my money will also have the tax due on the amount. The only taxpayer's money that this involves is that of the person making the donation and if I wish it to go to the charity of my choice why should that be labeled a crime?
• 

  Blablaman

  Re:

  www.charity-commission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends61/0001077961_AC_20100831_E_C.PDF

  Very odd accounts for a company that turned over £40 million... The "Movements in Funds" section is interesting with funds paid to the Kindom Hall being one of the highest listed. No mention of Gift Aid that I could see, but it's hidden in there because the smaller individual JW charities all ARE in receipt of this Tax Relief payments - look at their accounts;

  http://www.charitychoice.co.uk/charities/search/?q=jehovahs-witness&postcode=&distance=®ion=§or=&subsector=&onlinedonations=0&pid=01

  then enter the given JW charity name into the search at;

  http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/index.aspx

  It's not easy to get the info. They make you work!
• 

  digderidoo

  Blablaman ...

  As you make clear 1400 or so congregations have charitable status and so does the Watchtower Society of Britain. If you're asking via your petition question to have all of these to be removed from the Charities register that isn't made clear on your petition question. If on the other hand you're asking to have the Watchtower Society of Britain removed, again that isn't made clear on your petition question.

  Parliament in debating this issue, should it receive 100,000 signatures needs to know to whom the question is refering ... all of the 1400 congregations or the Watchtower Society of Britain? As the religion of Jehovahs Witnesses is not a charitable institution in its own regard. As stated in the Watchtower Society of Britains objectives, their aim is to further the Jehovahs Witnesses who are a Christian religion.

  Sifting through the legal jargon and putting into laymans terms ... the Jehovahs Witness religion (to which your petition question refers) is not a charity but a religion, whereas the 1400 congregations and Watchtower Society of Britain are charities on the register (to which your petition question does not refer). Hence Parliament cannot revoke the charitable status of the Jehovahs Witnesses, as they have never had one in the first place.
• 

  Blablaman

  Earnest

  It's a crime because the UK Government are paying money out of the UK's Treasury account, which is then placed in the coffers of The Watchtower Corporation. Money that is not being spent on worthy causes such as; real and non-politically/religiously biased education outside of religion, helping the poor, or deprived, hospitals etc. etc.

  OK. It's a debate, but in IMO it's a crime. It is an abuse of my democratic rights, and a charities position, moral role, purpose and the public benefit.

  You can personally spend your money on what you choose, but don't take my tax and put it in the many, many bank accounts/hedge funds of The WT Corp!
• 

  Chariklo

  The trouble is, as I've mentioned elsewhere, the Charity Commissioners are a toothless bulldog.

  i have been involved for many years with a local charity. Upon the death of some of its founders, the remaining founders being very elderly, despite strong local voluntary support and the need met by the charity being ever more urgent, the new trustees opted to close it and divert the funds elsewhere, despite substantial donations to keep the charity running.

  Submission of the facts was made to the Charity Commission. The local Member of Parliament was actively supporting us, and the BBC, local and regional, and all the local and regional papers gave us huge coverage. The campaign is still ongoing but we have been stonewalled time and again, even though the Police have an interest due to the trustees' connection with another matter involving a charity which is under criminal investigation.

  We have gone as high as the Charitiy Ombudsman, to whom we submitted the CC 's actions, or lack of them. The next step would be a judicial review, which has to be privately funded, and the costs are prohibitive.

  I mention all this (and won't name the charity or give a link for obvious legal reasons) because we've heard of other charities that have received similarly short shrift in their dealings with the Charity Commissioners. We had the support of tens of thousands of people, and big named support from household names. We got nowhere.

  This is a worthy cause and all power to Cedars for all he does, but I think the outlook for this particular action is bleak...unless there should be a national scandal. Then, and only then, in my view, might there be any realistic expectations of success.
• 

  digderidoo

  Further the 'public benefit' reqiuirement is given a very wide definition. Though a charity may act in a negative way as is being argued here, in my view, this in itself would not be enough to negate the 'public benefit' positives that they state they provide.

  Even if you didn't agree with the Charity Commissions decision a judicial review would be unlikely, as judicial reviews can only be argued on whether the Commission acted inside or outside of the law. In this case Parliament gives the Charity Commission decision to adjudicate, that in itself is inside the law as per the Charities Act 2011.

  As for examing the process of the decision itself, so long as it was made inside the law, the Court in a judicial review would stay out of the actual decision making process, unless the decision itself was totally unreasonable under the rules of 'Wednesbury unreasonableness'.
• 

  Blablaman

  Parliament in debating this issue, should it receive 100,000 signatures needs to know to whom the question is refering ... all of the 1400 congregations or the Watchtower Society of Britain? As the religion of Jehovahs Witnesses is not a charitable institution in its own regard. As stated in the Watchtower Society of Britains objectives, their aim is to further the Jehovahs Witnesses who are a Christian religion.

  Sifting through the legal jargon and putting into laymans terms ... the Jehovahs Witness religion (to which your petition question refers) is not a charity but a religion, whereas the 1400 congregations and Watchtower Society of Britain are charities on the register (to which your petition question does not refer). Hence Parliament cannot revoke the charitable status of the Jehovahs Witnesses, as they have never had one in the first place.
• 

  Blablaman

  digderidoo

  In reply to my quoted posting above;

  Firstly, it's not my petition, it's Angus Robertson's

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Gu-cjPHx7M

  I am not solicitor, nor am I fully understanding of the legal definition and status of such a matter as this. I am currently reading up and learning a lot about this matter, which is shrouded with contradictions and complexity.

  To debate whether or not the individual JW's Congregations are a charity, or not is pointless. Fact: charity, or no charity, they act as a single body with a global ruling office and authority, The Watchtower Corp.

  How one approaches the UK charities Commission, or indeed the UK Government about this situation is another matter altogether and one question that I am here asking advice on.

  The fact that JW is registered as a religion is of great importance. Manipulation of monies via associated charities should also be looked into more deeply. As you may have read in some other posts of mine, to question the point; Is JW a religion, or is it a cult? Fighting this legal definition may be a better way of stopping Tax abuse of this type. There are many reasons to questions this point. Furthermore, why do religions get charity status by default? They shouldn't!
• 

  digderidoo

  My apologies, I thought it was your petition.

  I agree that they act as a single body, but in approaching Parliament on this issue it has to be approached in a legal way, whereas in my opinion for reasons stated, this petition would get thrown out without any Parliamentary debate as it isn't worded correctly.
• 

  Earnest

  It's a crime because the UK Government are paying money out of the UK's Treasury account, which is then placed in the coffers of The Watchtower Corporation....

  You can personally spend your money on what you choose, but don't take my tax and put it in the many, many bank accounts/hedge funds of The WT Corp!

  Blabaman, as I explained in my previous post the Gift Aid arrangement only allows me to donate the tax relief due to me to the charity of my choice. It has nothing whatsoever to do with your tax or that of anybody else. Just mine, due to me if I claim it.

  So let us say that I pay £1000 tax in a year and that I donate £100 to a charity. I can then inform the tax office that I have given £100 to charity and they will reduce my tax by £20 (tax due on £100) so that I will only pay £980 tax that year. Alternatively, I can agree to the Gift Aid arrangement and would then pay the full £1000 tax of which £20 would be given by the tax office to the nominated charity. Neither your tax nor your democratic rights are affected.