Mormon Church Ripping off Millions of Dollars from Australia

The Mormon church wants everyone to read the Book of Mormon, but it will do nearly anything to keep anyone from reading their financial books. 60 Minutes Australia did some investigative reporting and alleges that the Mormon church is ripping off hundreds of millions of dollars from the Australian government in tax evasion.

“Accusations of lightening the pockets of the Australian tax office by 400 million dollars. The church's members claim very generous tax benefits, while other religions in Australia go without. It's alleged the Mormon books are actually being cooked in a massive tax dodge. Handed out on doorsteps around the world, [The Book of Mormon] promises to answer all of life's great questions. But we're throwing open a set of books the
Mormons would rather nobody reads – their financial books.” - Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia | wasmormon.org — “Accusations of lightening the pockets of the Australian tax office by 400 million dollars. The church’s members claim very generous tax benefits, while other religions in Australia go without. It’s alleged the Mormon books are actually being cooked in a massive tax dodge. Handed out on doorsteps around the world, [The Book of Mormon] promises to answer all of life’s great questions. But we’re throwing open a set of books the Mormons would rather nobody reads – their financial books.” – Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia

In many countries, donations to charities are tax deductible. In the US and many other countries, the allowed list of charities includes churches, so tithing in the US for example is a tax-deductible expense. In 2014 though, Australia changed their tax code to disallow churches to be included in this list of recipients for tax-deductible donations. The church, seemingly worried that this would make members less inclined to pay the church tithing, set up a new charity which members would donate to and continue to receive their tax write-offs. This is something the central church did, not something the Australian members did. Thus all tithing in Australia is funneled through a charity which is more of a shell company than a charity.

“The alleged tax dodging strategy is even clearer when you look at how much Mormon money is given to charity in Australia compared to the rest of the world. Here there are just 60,000 Mormons yet together apparently they give 93 Million dollars a year to charity. But outside Australia, where tax deductibility for tithing isn't an issue the church's 16 million members combined give only 25 million dollars a year to charity. That makes Australian Mormons the most generous on the planet.” - Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia | wasmormon.org — “The alleged tax dodging strategy is even clearer when you look at how much Mormon money is given to charity in Australia compared to the rest of the world. Here there are just 60,000 Mormons yet together apparently they give 93 Million dollars a year to charity. But outside Australia, where tax deductibility for tithing isn’t an issue the church’s 16 million members combined give only 25 million dollars a year to charity. That makes Australian Mormons the most generous on the planet.” – Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia

Looking at this charity, the Latter-Day Saints Charitable Trust Fund, or Latter-Day Saints Charities Australia, we can easily see that it doesn’t behave like a normal charity. It has zero expenses, and does nothing charitable with the funds it receives. It is just a shell company set up to funnel more tithing money into the hundred billion dollar church slush fund in the US. This is illegal in Australia, but so far the authorities are keeping quiet. Perhaps they are not interested in going head-to-head with the obscenely wealthy church, even if they are guilty of tax evasion.

Tom Steinfort, investigative reporter with 60 Minutes Australia has put together a story and interviewed a few important people to the case:

Ben Schneiders, a reporter with the Asian Sydney Morning Herald.

“I just couldn't believe that kind of the brazenness of this tax avoidance or tax evasion... These records tell a damning story about a religion that's actually run as a multinational corporation and now stands accused of not just breaching its own moral code, but also breaking the law.” - Ben Schneiders, Investigative Reporter, Asian Sydney Morning Herald, Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia | wasmormon.org — “I just couldn’t believe that kind of the brazenness of this tax avoidance or tax evasion… These records tell a damning story about a religion that’s actually run as a multinational corporation and now stands accused of not just breaching its own moral code, but also breaking the law.” – Ben Schneiders, Investigative Reporter, Asian Sydney Morning Herald, Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia

Neville Rocco an ex-mormon Barrister who has done his own investigations and whistleblown on the church’s shady financial practices in Australia.

“It's a large set of Corporations that have, as a sideline, a religion... I mean it's just so obvious. That's where the fundamental modeling of the Mormon church, to me, is just wrong, as a religious institution. It cannot justify itself as a religion because it is profit-taking rather than profit-distributing.” - Neville Rocco, Australian Barrister, Former Mormon Bishop
Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia | wasmormon.org — “It’s a large set of Corporations that have, as a sideline, a religion… I mean it’s just so obvious. That’s where the fundamental modeling of the Mormon church, to me, is just wrong, as a religious institution. It cannot justify itself as a religion because it is profit-taking rather than profit-distributing.” – Neville Rocco, Australian Barrister, Former Mormon, Bishop Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia

There are also Trevor and Sue Given, who had previously left the church, and now have joined with hundreds of other Australian former Mormons in a class action lawsuit against the church to recuperate the tithing money they gave the church under false pretenses.

“[The church is] acting like a big Corporation that's reducing its outlays and cheating the tax man, and we just thought, "but, that's that's not what the church is meant to be." It was very hard to reconcile that... I'll be just very straightforward. I want my tithing money back. I paid it under false pretenses.” - Trevor & Sue Given, Former Australian Mormon
Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia | wasmormon.org — “[The church is] acting like a big Corporation that’s reducing its outlays and cheating the tax man, and we just thought, “but, that’s that’s not what the church is meant to be.” It was very hard to reconcile that… I’ll be just very straightforward. I want my tithing money back. I paid it under false pretenses.” – Trevor & Sue Given, Former Australian Mormon. Mormon Church Accused of Ripping Off Taxpayers by Millions, 60 Minutes Australia

60 Minutes Australia Program

60 Minutes Australia Transcript

For those who would rather read the transcript than watch the video, here is the full content of the program:

Once famous – or infamous – for its stance on polygamy these days the Mormon church is better known for its earnest young missionaries who door knock our suburbs promising enlightenment. Tonight though, less heavenly Mormon enlightenment, instead accusations of lightening the pockets of the Australian tax office by 400 million dollars. The church’s members claim very generous tax benefits, while other religions in Australia go without. It’s alleged the Mormon books are actually being cooked in a massive tax dodge. It’s money Australia could well use but despite the federal government’s bluster about cracking down on waste and rorting, so far it’s done nothing.
The Book of Mormon is something every person on Earth should read, according to the church’s famed missionaries. Handed out on doorsteps around the world, promises to answer all of life’s great questions. But tonight we’re throwing open a set of books the Mormons would rather nobody reads – their financial books. And asking questions they’ve never before had to answer.
Ben Schneiders: I just couldn’t believe that kind of the brazenness of this tax avoidance or tax evasion. The loser is the Australian government and the Australian people.
These records tell a damning story about a religion that’s actually run as a multinational corporation and now stands accused of not just breaching its own moral code, but also breaking the law.
Tom Steinfort: Do you think the church is guilty of fraud?
Trevor and Sue Given: I do, I do. Absolutely.
Neville Rocco: In a cult, you don’t question the leadership.
Neville Rocco has made a glittering career out of writing wrongs but there’s one place the barrister never thought he’d be able to find even a hint of illegal activity and that’s inside the Mormon church.
Tom Steinfort: If you had to mount a defense for the way that the church spends its money, how’s your defense looking?
Neville Rocco: Not too good. If it’s got a defense. I’d really like to see it forthcoming, nothing’s forthcoming and the silence is deafening.
Mormonism, also known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a Christian faith founded in the 1820s in New York and now has its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah. The religion is perhaps best known in Australia for its missionaries walking the streets spreading the good word.
That’s something Neville did before becoming a bishop, and along with his wife the church’s representatives to the European Union in Brussels. But in recent years, he lost his faith not just in the religion, but specifically, the way it managed its finances.
Neville Rocco: It’s a large set of Corporations that have, as a sideline, a religion.
Tom Steinfort: So you think this is much more of a business than a religion?
Neville Rocco: Oh, it clearly is! I mean it’s just so obvious. That’s where the fundamental modeling of the Mormon church, to me, is just wrong, as a religious institution. It cannot justify itself as a religion because it is profit-taking rather than profit-distributing.
It’s a lesson Neville learned after years of giving generously to the church. Unlike followers of most other religions, Mormons are required to hand over 10 percent of their income in what’s known as tithing.
Tom Steinfort: How much money do you think you gave the church?
Neville Rocco: Oh, it’d be in the hundreds of thousands. But may even be more, but, a lot of money, a lot of money.
In most other Western countries, tithing is tax deductible, but not in Australia. Here you can only claim a deduction if you give to a charity, not a religion. So, the Mormons are exploiting a loophole, they’ve registered their own charity in Australia and require their members to deposit tithing money in there instead of giving directly to the church.
Ben Schneiders: It appears to be a giant sham and this is a sham, not by ordinary Mormons, but by the church in Salt Lake City.
Tom Steinfort: What do you believe is the main aim of this operation?
Ben Schneiders: I think the main aim of this operation is to ensure that Mormons keep tithing, or keep paying money to the church.
Ben Schneiders, from the Asian Sydney Morning Herald, has been working with us on this investigation. He’s calculated that by claiming tithes are actually charitable donations, Australian Mormons have been able to draw on 400 Million dollars in tax deductions not lawfully available to followers of other religions.
Ben Schneiders: If you’re a Catholic and you go to church and you put money on the plate, you don’t get a tax deduction for that. Similarly, if you’re a Muslim, or if you’re Jewish, or what have you, no other religion in Australia gets this tax benefit. But the Mormons have structured themselves in such a way in Australia, that ordinary donations and tithings to a church are given tax deductibility by saying that nearly all this money is spent on charity.
Tom Steinfort: So what’s the name of this charitable organization?
Ben Schneiders: It’s the Latter-Day Saints Charitable Trust Fund.
Tom Steinfort: So where does this rank alongside other charities in Australia?
Ben Schneiders: According to its accounts, it’s one of the biggest charities in Australia. It takes in more in donations than Oxfam, more than Beyond blue, more than Caritas, the Catholic Church’s International Aid agency. Yet, it has no public presence in Australia.
That’s probably because Latter-Day Saints Charities Australia is in fact a shell company. It seems to only exist on paper. It has no employees, no website, no office, and no expenses. Yet its income has skyrocketed since 2014. Coincidentally, that is when tax rules were updated, making it much more lucrative for the church to funnel its donations through a charity.
Ben Schneiders: The change was extraordinary. So it’s gone from 36,000 to 100 million dollars in a decade. The number of Mormons in Australia in that time has not grown, if anything, it has slightly declined. There’s serious questions whether this is illegal tax evasion.
The alleged tax dodging strategy is even clearer when you look at how much Mormon money is given to charity in Australia compared to the rest of the world. Here there are just 60,000 Mormons yet together apparently they give 93 Million dollars a year to charity. But outside Australia, where tax deductibility for tithing isn’t an issue the church’s 16 million members combined give only 25 million dollars a year to charity. That makes Australian Mormons the most generous on the planet.
Ben Schneiders: It makes no sense that Australians are so disproportionately generous compared to Mormons in the rest of the world. Why would Australian Mormons completely buck the trend of Mormons in the United States, in Canada, in Britain, in New Zealand, and be something like 70 to 100 times more generous? It just didn’t add up.
The church claims LDS Charities Australia’s huge budget is somehow managed by just a handful of local volunteers. But some believe the truth is, that it’s actually run out of Mormon headquarters in America. If that’s the case it would be illegal in Australia.
Ben Schneiders: Under Australian law, if you’re running a charity like this you have to be managed or have the majority of your operations managed from Australia. It seems implausible that it can manage such a large budget, that can distribute tens of millions of dollars each year, with no paid staff. The church has denied that it’s running the Australian operations from Utah but it seems hard to believe.
Tom Steinfort: If the church is the winner in this whole situation, who then is the loser?
Ben Schneiders: The loser is the Australian government and the Australian people. There’s hundreds of millions of dollars of money that should have been taxed that hasn’t. That’s literally hundreds of millions of dollars that should be in the Australian government that they could spend or whatever they want.
Tom Steinfort: Did you feel complicit in this tax scheme?
Neville Rocco: I thought that if I was silent I would be complicit.
Neville Rocco was once tasked by the church to research the tax benefits available to religions. But he now feels sick to think that he may have unknowingly helped the religion avoid paying its way. So, along with another ex-mormon, Neville lodged a complaint with Australia’s Charities Regulator. However neither the regulator, nor the tax office, will say whether they are investigating the church because of privacy laws.
Neville Rocco: There is tax not being paid, that should be paid, and I found that pretty disturbing.
We’ve now uncovered what the church has really been doing with so-called surplus donations. Instead of using that money for charity, the religion has built a 100 billion dollar slush fund and you won’t believe how they’ve been spending the cash.
Trevor Given: The church is so demanding of your time and your energies.
During their 20 years in the Mormon Church Sue and Trevor given never imagined they’d one day be this happy outside it.
Tom Steinfort: How’s life post Church?
Trevor Given: Actually just fabulous!
Sue Given: Quite liberating not being a Mormon anymore.
It’s also much cheaper now that they’re free of the obligation to pay tithes the Mormon membership fees that equate to a hefty portion of their earnings.
Trevor Given: I guess people at home would just have to think what would be 10 of my income over say 20 years. It’s a lot of money!
But in the end, it wasn’t the financial burden that prompted the Givens to leave the church it was a heartbreaking moment with their youngest son Nathaniel in 2009. At 15, he was struggling to accept he was gay, a huge sin in the Mormon faith, and one he felt he could no longer live with.
Sue Given: I got a call saying that my son had been taken to emergency, and that was a huge shock.
Trevor Given: Just a tremendous sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach and then when we went to the hospital I think as a parent there was a tremendous feeling of failure.
Sue Given: Oh, 100%! Yeah, and I think that was galvanized by my son telling us that he was afraid to come out because he thought we would not love him anymore.
The Givens couldn’t support a religion that didn’t accept their son and left in 2014. They thought they’d seen the absolute worst of the church until they heard about our investigation into its finances.
Trevor Given: They’re acting like a big Corporation that’s reducing its outlays and cheating the tax man, and we just thought, “but, that’s that’s not what the church is meant to be.” It was very hard to reconcile that, without understanding, and certainly, the message of Jesus Christ, it’s just chalk and cheese.
Our six-month investigation has exposed alleged tax avoidance not just in Australia but in the United States as well the the church has been funneling donations into a 100 billion dollar slush fund that’s designed to dodge tax and balloon in value.
Now that fund controversially, has tax-free status, because the Mormons claim it was set up for religious charitable or educational purposes. But that’s hard to believe when you see how the money is really spent.
Neville Rocco: I was shocked that there was a hundred billion dollars doing no work of any charitable kind at all.
Barrister Neville Rocco is a whistleblower who’s helped expose the religion’s financial fiddling in Australia. He’s appalled to know the church has built a gigantic Money Pit in America. Spending billions buying shares in tech companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. As well as paying to build a glitzy Shopping Center in downtown Salt Lake city where the church is based.
Neville Rocco: The whole scene of Thomas Monson, who was then the president of the church, opening that mall, and cutting the river and saying let’s go shopping. I mean how does the the average African member of the church was dirt poor react to a scene like that? Where they go into those areas and say pay your tithing first before you pay anything else. That is just a wicked doctrine. That is evil, when you’ve got that amount of money not being deployed to help anyone who is in genuine needs.
The secret stockpile was exposed by a former church member on a website called Mormon leaks. The church leadership has long defended the war chest with prominent Mormon and one-time Bishop, Mitt Romney saying, “I’m happy that they’ve not only saved for a rainy day, but for a rainy decade.”
Tom Steinfort: What’s so evil about saving for a rainy day?
Neville Rocco: Because the rainy day is definitely here. A lot of people who are suffering could have their suffering alleviated if instead of diverting those monies into investment, they invested in individuals and families.
Tom Steinfort: What do you think they’re saving for?
Neville Rocco: I heard one explanation was well when the second coming of Christ comes we need to have some money for that for that time. I thought, “what relevance is money going to come if Jesus Christ ever comes back?” How’s 100 billion going to help you?
Tom Steinfort: Do you have concerns about the way that the Mormon church is managing its money here in Australia?
Andrew Lee: Well, obviously, we don’t go to a particular organizations but it is really important that we have strong integrity in the rules around charities.
Andrew Lee is the assistant Minister for Charities. When he was in opposition earlier this year, he demanded the tax office immediately investigate allegations the Mormons were dodging tax. But now that he’s in government and has the power to do something about it, all of a sudden he’s pulling his punches.
Tom Steinfort: Should the Mormon Church be able to pass itself off as a charity?
Andrew Lee: Well matters of tax enforcement are up to the tax office.
Tom Steinfort: I mean I can’t help but get the impression that you talked a big game in opposition, and now you’re treading very carefully in government.
Andrew Lee: Well it’s important as a member of the government to to be applying the rules fairly and across the board. I need to make sure–
Tom Steinfort: You make the rules!
Andrew Lee: Absolutely.
Tom Steinfort: So why aren’t you changing the rules?
Andrew Lee: Oh, it’s certainly in the area of multinational tax avoidance, ensuring that Australia isn’t used as a tax haven, and isn’t used as a tax haven by charities. And when some people exploit loopholes, there can be a degradation of the integrity of the system.
Tom Steinfort: You’ve used the word loophole. Is there a loophole at the moment?
Andrew Lee: Well we need to need to make sure that the the rules are right, so I’m certainly open –
Tom Steinfort: So what are you doing then, to make sure the rules are right? I just feel like we’re going around in circles a little bit here. So, you said you look after the rules. Under your rules should they be able to pass themselves off as a charity?
Andrew Lee: Now, I’m not going to specific affairs of particular organizations.
In a statement to us, the church effectively confirmed it is sitting on a huge stockpile of cash. But said the money was formed in its words the singular purpose of inviting and helping people come unto Christ, adding that this was their divinely appointed mission.
Tom Steinfort: Do you think the church is guilty of fraud?
Sue Given: I do. I do
Trevor Given: Absolutely.
While the government may be slow to act, Trevor and Sue Given are not. They’ve joined hundreds of other former Mormons in a class action against the church.
They believe it’s time the church’s accounts were held to account.
Trevor Given: I mean, I’ll be just very straightforward. I want my tithing money back. I paid it under false pretenses.
Tom Steinfort: Yeah how do you feel about it all now?
Trevor Given: Oh, ripped off! They’re just getting richer, and richer, and richer, and not doing anything with the money.
Mormon church accused of ripping off taxpayers by millions of dollars | 60 Minutes Australia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFddArTfjhQ

The Mormon Church, once primarily recognized for its missionaries, is now embroiled in accusations of tax evasion in Australia, alleged to have cost the Australian tax office $400 million.

LDS Australia Charity is Shell Company – Chart Showing Illegal Cash Flow
https://www.smh.com.au/national/labor-greens-push-for-tax-office-investigation-into-mormon-donations-20220401-p5aa0v.html

Investigations suggest that the Church has exploited tax benefits, utilizing a loophole that allows tithing to be claimed as charitable donations. The investigation uncovers a sophisticated financial structure, revealing the Church’s operation as more akin to a multinational corporation rather than a religious institution, with funds funneled into a $100 billion slush fund. Despite government promises to address tax avoidance, there’s hesitancy to act, leaving former members to pursue legal action and demand accountability for their contributions, which they feel were given under false pretenses.

Does this blatant disregard for the laws of the land fit a church that teaches us to be honest in our dealings with our fellow man? What does the church do with the tithing funds it collects? Have these questions loaded your own Mormon shelf over the years? What do investigations like this one and the other whistleblowers do to faith in the church as a righteous institution? Does the church feel more like a global corporation than an actual charitable organization or religion? Share your thoughts in the comments or tell your full story in your own I was a Mormon profile and faith transition story at wasmormon.org today.

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