<P> In the 1880s and' 90s, the LDS Church fell into severe financial distress due to several factors that were exacerbated by the nationwide economic depression that began with the Panic of 1893 . </P> <P> Under the provisions of the anti-polygamy Edmunds--Tucker Act of 1887 which were upheld in the 1890 Supreme Court ruling Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - Day Saints v. United States, the U.S. government had confiscated LDS Church property, including tithing money donated by members (real estate such as churches and temples was never seized, though the Edmund - Tucker act allowed for such seizures). Additionally, the LDS Church had borrowed extensively to finance a variety of infrastructural developments such as gristmills and after the 1893 financial crisis the LDS Church was unable to make timely payments on their loans; Wilford Woodruff, Church President from 1889 to 1898, privately expressed doubt that the church would ever pay its debts . Eventually the LDS Church obtained the backing of investment bank Kuhn, Loeb & Co. to issue bonds backed by the labor of Utah residents . </P> <P> By the time Lorenzo Snow became church president in 1898, the church was $2.3 million in debt . Snow reemphasized the payment of tithing (giving 10% of one's income to the church) and by 1907 the church was completely out of debt and since then has not used debt to fund its operations, even for capital projects . An early pioneer venture of the LDS Church was ZCMI which lasted from 1868 to divesting ZCMI Center Mall in 2007 . </P> <P> During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the church greatly increased spending on buildings under the leadership of Henry Moyle . Moyle's reasoning was that by building larger meetinghouses the church would attract more converts . The accelerated building program led to a $32 million deficit in 1962 . It was Moyle who convinced David O. McKay to discontinue publishing an annual financial statement in order to hide the extent of the spending . Eventually, McKay relieved Moyle from his administrative responsibilities and spending was reigned in . </P>

When did the lds church become debt free