Orphan Crow It wouldn't surprise me if the WTS is getting nailed for tax on printed material.
In Canada, even if they don't sell a product, they still could be levied a Goods and Services tax on the printed material they produce.
http://mmoutreachinc.com/nvweb/featureart/wttaxes.html
Maybe the tax man is catching up to the WTS' tax evasion methods.
You are definately onto something here.
In Australia they are registered for GST since 2000 (Goods & Services Tax) and are a Charity (non profit). GST is currently 10%.
They get to claim back the 10% they paid on all expenses and I doubt they pay 10% on any of their donations.
What qualifies as a Donation which is not subject to GST is complex but generally applies if the donation is a pure gift, without any expectations for any provisions in return. If the provision is minor (such as a pen advertising the Charity) it is okay.
This is what one website defines a GST free donation/gift as
Gifts & Donations
For a payment (monetary or non-monetary) to be considered a gift or donation, it must be unfettered. Specifically, there must be no obligation on the donee to do anything in recognition of the gift, and no expectation on the part of the donor to receive anything in return for the donation. Whether a payment is a gift, and therefore not subject to GST, depends upon the circumstances surrounding the payment. For a payment not to be subject to GST would require: a payment that is made voluntarily, and not as a result of a prior contractual obligation (written or implied); a payment where the payer does not receive an advantage of a material character by way of return for making the payment; and a payment that essentially arises from benefaction.
A donor may receive something in return for making a payment with the payment still being treated as a gift, providing the thing received is only of ‘insubstantial’ value. An item of insubstantial value will not provide a donor with a material benefit.
This is one reason why the Org says to not specify what the donation is for when remitting money to them.
Funny thing is that if a portion of that donation is not GST free, specifically for printed publications as an expectation which is not insubstantial, then the value would most likely be the market value which would be far greater than the minimal charge they were imposing prior to the donation arrangement.
There intention was to make it look like JWs were not paying for the literature or specifically donating for the literature but the JWs certainly had the expectation that they would be recieving it, that is the main reason that the WTBTS is there for. The GB had separated itself legally from the WTBTS in 2000 leaving the WTBTS to be virtually a business operation (albeit non profit). The amount of literature given to each JW is significant and could not be considered as a thank you gift from the Organization.
It would be interesting to know what the situation is regarding the definition of donations and tax in other countries.
If the Australian Branch suddenly found itself with a huge GST bill for a three year period they would have the option of taking it to Court to dispute it, it would then become public. However, they may choose not to as it would send out a flag for other Countries to examine.
Again Orphan Crow, I think you are on the right track here.