Should pastors in Nigeria pay tax?

Why not, don't they earn income? Give unto caesar what is caesars.

Certainly any pastor with integrity should pay tax on his/her income. It's not even a question of "should", the laws are already there.

The only issue in Nigeria is that a pastor's "income" tends not to be formal. Many receive "gifts" by virtue of their being pastors. So if a congregation decides to give their pastor N10m as a gift, can the authorities ask for tax? If they set that precedent, then should other gifts given to individuals also be subject to tax.

IF I had the opportunity to advise tax authorities, I would say that pastors should declare all income that accrues to them by virtue of their position as a pastor, and of course, as with the entire population that should be subject to tax.

The only issue with that is that there are many informal workers in Nigeria who do not declare their income and then pay the tax (think of the market woman, taxi driver, other self-employed people).

It's complicated!

Yeah They Should Pay Tax

Yeah They Should Pay Tax

KunleOshob:

Why not, don't they earn income? Give unto caesar what is caesars.

Seconded

i totally agree with that.

if they pay taxes it also means they can now tell their congregations how much they earn monthly or weekly.
also since they 'supposedly' pay tithes they should pay taxes,

Yeah They Should Pay Tax

KunleOshob:

Why not, don't they earn income? Give unto caesar what is caesars.

Seconded

You got that right KunleOshob!

@OP Do u know of Pastors that dont pay tax?

According to the Personal Income Tax Decree, 1990 (as Amended), they are expected to pay tax on all income they make during the given year. However, the church (mosque and others mentioned) is not subjected to tax.

There is no individual person that is exempted from paying tax except as specified in Personal Income Tax Decree.

The Pastor, Imam & the Church & other religious organizations (which could be a religious ministry) should not be assumed to be the same entity, they are different.

If they have a valid source of income which is within taxable range then they should pay tax.

according to Personal Income tax act(PITA Cap P8 LFN 2004). Pastors and Iman are taxable persons under the decree, there is no exemption for them. It is the income generated from church and mosque activities that will be fully exempted from tax. But if church and mosque engage in any other form of business that is outside its normal activiities, such income will be taxabe unde CITA

KunleOshob:

Why not, don't they earn income? Give unto caesar what is caesars.

its difficult to tax a pastor because  technically, they dont earn income. they earn gifts.  

pastor should pay tax as long as they earn income from their work,my penny

off course

yes. its scriptural to pay tax. pastors should show good example. ANY PASTOR WHO EVADE TAX SHOULD BE PROSECUTED.

I believe the obvious answer to the post is YES.

The more difficult question is how do the authorities enforce this.
With the lax personal income tax system that we have in Nigeria, most people not on PAYE probably pay far less tax than they ought to.

since the congregation does not pay a fixed tithe amount,how will tax payable be determined apparantly no one has an idea their gross income,

Ayoobscom:

since the congregation does not pay a fixed tithe amount,how will tax payable be determined apparantly no one has an idea their gross income,

This is very interesting. In a proper setting, the "church" will have a governing board; the governing board will set the monthly or annual salary (or income) of the "pastor". On this monthly/annual salary/income, the "pastor" should then pay tax --- as the amount is a fixed or set amount, calculating the amount of tax due will not be difficult. The problem we have is as identified by one poster earlier; our modern "pastors" (and their family in many cases) treat all church funds/incomes etc as personal or family assets for all practical purposes e.g. they alone use the "ministry"'s jet etc but for government and tax purposes they will claim that these assets belong to the "ministry" and therefore exempt from tax.

Yes afterall some of them own private jets.

my pastor (the one feeling the heat now) pays tax and has always admonished us to the same >>> ideally, payng tax should also apply to everybody that is a Nigerian >>> PAY YOUR TAXES

I need to read what JoAgbaje has to say about this

The tax laws subjects their income (nb: salary) to tax, but when it comes to gifts, no way, gifts are generally exempted.

The Church receives love gifts only from members. So by agitating that Pastors should pay tax we are saying that Government should start taxing gifts. Once Government sets such a precedent then it must be applied to every other person.

according to Personal Income tax act(PITA Cap P8 LFN 2004). Pastors and Iman are taxable persons under the decree, there is no exemption for them. It is the income generated from church and mosque activities that will be fully exempted from tax. But if church and mosque engage in any other form of business that is outside its normal activiities, such income will be taxabe unde CITA

You-are-good!!

NAJALYN:

The Church receives love gifts only from members. So by agitating that Pastors should pay tax we are saying that Government should start taxing gifts. Once Government sets such a precedent then it must be applied to every other person.

You're right, the issue of administering the tax on pastors will be tricky.

Having said that, I think that all the benefits that accrue to a pastor, [/b]by virtue of their position as a pastor[b] should at the very least be declared for transparency. Tax authorities may then have to take a view of which of these benefits can be taxed.

they should be paying their tax tooo at least they use the best of the best in the society
1 the best woman is assumed to be for a pastor
2 the best ride
3 the best bouncers and securities
4 helicopter and private jet
5 the best facilities in terms of household
so why cant they pay taxes since Jesus christ our saviour pay tax and doesnt even enjoy the kind enjoyment the pastors nowadays are enjoying.LET THEM PAY JORRR

KunleOshob:

Why not, don't they earn income? Give unto caesar what is caesars.

true

pawa4ul:

What will the Govt. use in developing the roads leading to these their churches ([color=#990000][b]cos these churches don't even embark on any community based developments). Going by PAYE, some Pastors will pay up to N1m monthly as tax.
Govt is really loosing money by pastors not paying tax. The poor people do not have any facilities to enjoy, but the pastors live in luxury and affluence. THEY SHOULD PAY THEIR TAX,.[/color][/b]

Ambulance donated to the Lagos state government,laptops and printers given to the state police and road safety command,water project in warri,state prison furnished with computers and a chapel built in port harcourt, police patrol vans given to the Lagos state government and lots more done around the country for the reach out Nigeria project

Nobody has answered Rebranded's question

DO YOU KNOW ANY PASTOR THAT DOESN'T PAY TAX?

and how many of you pay tax on the gifts you receive?

Pastors should pay tax, Jesus was a Pastor and the bible recorded that he paid tax, the truth is pastors do pay tax