The Taxation of Religious Institutions

I don't see any logical reason to tax mosques; they are not factories or companies and the money people give is going to poor people, charities or to improve the mosque.

I don't have an opinion for the other religious Institutions.

 

I was raised in a religious household, so I am generally against taxing religious institutions because I consider them to be charities, even if their only charitable contribution is "saving souls."

I was thinking that maybe we can only tax institutions who funnel money out of the country, but that would hurt those churches who have missions abroad and who basically redistribute the wealth of richer churches to poorer nations' churches.

Do I believe that all churches should receive tax exemption? No, there are many that use the wealth of their church to spend lavishly on extravagant things that would make even the most opulent person blush. Pastors of mega-churches seem to live well beyond the means of their average congregant.

I would be okay if we were to tax churches and we were to set up a scheme where they could have their contributions to society, whether through charitable missions, upkeep of their facilities, and all other necessary and proper activities of a religious institution, be deducted from their taxes to the point where the majority of churches would end up as effectively tax-exempt and only those churches that are essentially moneymaking businesses and up getting a tax bill. However, I really don't want to set a precedent that would upend the fact that churches are essentially considered charitable institutions in western nations. Christian churches sometimes face oppression through taxation in places where Christianity is not the dominant religion; I think we're better than those countries.

 

Taxed the same as other organisations. Not unfairly, in either direction. But I also wouldn't approve of charitable status for them.

 

I declare an interest as a Church Treasurer and say no. I have enough trouble playing chicken with the figure £0.00 every month as it is

Seriously. I think all religious institutions should be exempt. Why? Whatever you think about religion (and I know a lot of people on EC have a very low opinion... many for good reason) there is a lot of giving back to community and environment through outreach projects and the like and the exemption from certain taxes allows that to happen. Removing the exemption altogether would have a negative impact.

As Church Treasurer I am often the dissenting voice in a congregation that would give away every penny to charitable causes and community projects, leaving us bust. Fortunately, I have a powerful veto.

I know many people will say that the outreach work and giving is always for the purposes of indoctrination, but I resolutely dispute that. It absolutely isn't the case. Many projects are cross denominational or non-denominational and giving is to more often than not to secular causes. The tax exemptions really make a difference locally.

In the UK, Churches and religious organisations with an annual income of £100,000+ must abide by the same accounting and reporting processes as charities and be registered with the Charities Commission. Those that fall below threshold should still demonstrate an appropriate structure with independent examination of accounts on an annual basis.

 

As an European - yes.

Here you always hear how that pastor or this did something horrendous, say a woman with 3 kids was renting an apartment from one and when she couldn't pay anymore he just threw her out literally to the street because she had no where to go, and you never hear of them doing anything good.

Not to mention that inside the church they ask everyone who comes over to give money. Every time a pastor is speaking and everyone is sitting quiet and listening, some guy comes over with a bowl and pokes it into everyones face asking for money.

Also Vatican, so you know, they got enough money as it is here in EU. I believe Vatican owns the Colossuem though I'm not entirely sure about that, they do own alot of Rome lands too. Yes Vatican donates to charities, once a year, not even a 1% of their wealth.

 

I feel it depends on the impact on the local community. If they make a positive impact eg helping the homeless feeling like they are part of it no they shouldn't have to but if there just there to impose their views they should.

 

Churches should be subject to the same restrictions as other organizations. That means that they could be tax exempt if, and only if, they meet certain qualifications such as proving that they are performing a charitable service to the community, being non-discriminatory, and keeping their books open.

Currently, churches in America are tax exempt just for being churches, and are given special exemptions from all the other requirements that other tax exempt organizations must abide by. That needs to change.

 

Seconded. Churches have many if not all of the same financial practices as businesses. They collect money for things they need, to pay bills, and to pay their employees. And a lot of them really don't provide any charitable services to their communities, which really gets me because that just seems like something churches should inherently do. I've seen churches that actually have businesses in them, like a food court or a hair salon. Seriously, they exist.

 

No, they're charitable institutions, but maybe a little oversight could be in order. There a clear abuses of the status. By i large I know few churches operating in the black.

 

Churches should pay property tax to cover the various local services (fire, police etc) they receive, and their employees should pay income taxes at all levels of government. If they engage in business, the businesses they own should pay taxes, but individual contributions and donations to the church should not be taxed as "income" to the church. IMHO, of course.

 

If churches want to have a say in politics, like most churches in the US, they should be taxed like any other business.

 

If all churches were taxed, then the only churches left standing would be the ones that are successful money making operations. I'd rather stick with what we have than deal with a population whose religion is unanimously commodified.

That said, I'm fine with taxing personal income of church leaders who make exorbitant incomes as it is.

 

It's not infringement of free religious practice to tax churches. You have income, you get taxed. Them's the rules. The little churches who don't make much money can simply be taxed less/ go through some sort of appeal so they don't have to shut down.

If anyone argues "It's only donations to be put back into the community" well, so are tips for waiters and waitresses. They don't live high on the hog either and their tips are required to be reported to the IRS.

 

I have mixed feelings. I, unlike many here on EC, am not necessarily anti-church. Also note that my comments are based from a US view. All that said, actually I think taxing them like a business might not be a bad idea. Yes, many churches are only scraping by these days. But a business can deduct legitimate expenses. So a church barely scraping by should, in theory, be able to avoid paying taxes. Meanwhile, a church that collects mountains of cash will pay for the privilege.

Unfortunately, of course, there are all sorts of ways of avoiding paying taxes. So the large mega churches that collect those mountains of cash would undoubtedly find a way to work around taxes. One thing we really need is an overhaul of business tax code. There is something seriously wrong when a large corporation can make a huge profit, and yet--through the magic of loopholes in the tax code--pay zero dollars in taxes. But don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen. Not with how much power corporations have in politics. Also don't hold your breath waiting for churches to get taxed in the US. Even suggesting the idea would--I'd guess--be a fast political death for anyone seeking office in this country.

---------- Post added 4th Jul 2014 at 10:33 AM ----------

A lot hinges on the church. Many churches do good charity work. But I'd bet there are churches that are more interested in recruiting members. Church A may be headed to some 3rd world country to help the locals build, say, a small school. Church B may be headed to the same country to tell the people: "Your religion is wrong! But don't worry! We're here to tell you all about Jesus, who hates everyone but us in this church!"

Of course, taking a broader view of non-profit agencies, there is no requirement to have a view and mission that 100% of the population agrees with.

 

I personally wouldn't support the taxation of churches, if the government needs money, it should be the burden of the rich. I don't know how to feel about churches where the pastors make 200k+ per year, but priests only make 30k, the previous pope gets 40k a year from his pension, so I doubt any of them go in it for the money. I think that if we started taxing churches, we would have to tax all of them, otherwise the government would be favoring certain churches over the others. I imagine a good number of churches wouldn't be able to stay open, many of them are scraping by as it is.

 

Absolutely. Plus, why wouldn't a church want to pay taxes, the very money that supports the government and country which they exist in. Especially when you consider the obscene wealth of the church organisations as a whole.

Happy days

 

I think they should pay taxes. After all, they use municipal/public services, such as fire, police, ambulance, roads, sidewalks, streetlights, water mains, just as anyone else does. Why should they get the benefit of all these amenities without having to pony up? Also, I see plenty of preachers driving a big, new Cadillac or a shiny, new Mercedes Benz. What's up with that?

Sure, maybe they 'give' to the community as well, but they need to help pay for the basics, just like anyone. That's just fair. I mean, suppose I decide that where I live is a church, and write my own Bible. Would that give me the right to stop paying taxes? No.

Thus, churches need to be taxed at some level.

 

Well, if you tried hard enough and went through the legal channels, you might have something there but only the income that went to your religious establishment (not your individual pockets) would be tax-free if I understand correctly, so everything would have to go through it.

 

If they are going to claim the charity card then that's fine but they should have to go through the same hoops as any charity does to get tax exemption. They certainly should NOT be automatically granted tax exemption.

This truly is not a difficult issue.