In Italy, the Catholic church has been told to pay taxes to the tune of 600 million euros.

This begs the question: should religious organizations be made to pay taxes?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/vatican-told-to-pay-taxes-as-italy-tackles-budget-crisis-6988938.html

I dont think churches should pay tax and this is why:

How did Jesus pay tax? He sent Peter, who happened to be a fisherman by profession, to go to the river, cast his net and open the mouth of the first fish that is caught. Now this tells me that the business was taxed, not the ministry.
Remember that the ministry had it's own money which was under the care of Judas Iscariot (which the Bible records that Judas usually steals from), yet Jesus did not dip His hand into it to pay the tax, instead He sent Peter who was a professional fisherman to use his fishing boat and fishing tools to fish and get the money for the tax.

So churches should not be taxed, only their businesses should be taxed.

Without mincing word, CAPITAL YES!

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They are not giving to Caesar the things that belongs to Caesar and hiding under bible they are non profit organization but we all know what is going on. I don't wanna get in trouble o

.

Go through this classic https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-166499.0.html, then come back and rephrase your question. ok?

diluminati:

Go through this classic https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-166499.0.html, then come back and rephrase your question. ok?

I've gone thru it and I consider the poster to be an extremist with the singular purpose of giving our MOG bad names. Not all rich pastors are there for the money, many of them started with the aim of saving souls or becos they were called but with the job comes the money.
I am not for one moment in support of pastors who live in opulence while church members live in abject poverty, but at the same time I will never condemn them cos it's not for me to judge them.
It is only God who sees the heart of men and He alone can judge.

Did your Jesus not tell you to give to Caesar what is his?

I am neutral on the matter.

yes;

not only tax; but they should b force to have Pension fund for the full time staff,

because at the end of the day; the G.O will tell the other pastor under him that they are working for God
and should expect reward 4rm God; meanwhile he has built a business empire for his children`s children,

Not only should they pay tax, they should also pay tax on the remaining revenue that is left . What kind of nonsense is this? Infact, they should be made to donate 60 percent of their revenue after taxation to charities

donedy:

Not only should they pay tax, they should also pay tax on the remaining revenue that is left . What kind of nonsense is this? Infact, they should be made to donate 60 percent of their revenue after taxation to charities

Why are u spewing hate? Even corporate organisations that are out for the sole purpose of making profit are not made to donate 60% of their revenue after taxation to charities as suggested by you.

I'm noticing a rather disturbing trend here: people are so eager and quick to attack churches on this issue of tax, what about mosques and temples? Why is no one attacking them?
This shows people are not objective in their analysis and thoughts, they are just out to spew so much hate on churches and MOG.

Unequivocal Yes

I have seriously advocated that all religious body pay tax.

With the incessant proliferation of religious bodies in Nigeria,I think there should even be a regulatory body.

ogogoromaster:


I have seriously advocated that all religious body pay tax.

With the incessant proliferation of religious bodies in Nigeria,I think there should even be a regulatory body.

You are very stupid for that statement you made. HIGHLY STUPID!

And having said that, I would advocate churches pay tax on revenue sources to support the maintenance of amenities that are used such as roads.

But then, how many of the tax advocates here pay tax, especially the drunken ogogoro man who made that stupid post above?

these guys hide under the umbrella of religion and extort cash from their followers , they collect offerings, special offerings, tithe, vows. if you invite a MOG you have to pay into his account and lodge him in a nice hotel. at police check-point they go free  without searching their cars, they have unquestioned access to peoples wives in the name of special prayers. am not jealous of them but to say the truth these guys should be paying all due taxes in accordance with the law.

Is like the hatred for the church is growing by the day. Why is everyone talking about churches alone, What about the mosque and other places of worship for occultic folks who keep it secret? No one seem to be discussing that part.
Like Lasinoh rightly pointed out, give to ceasar that which is his, any church that uses govt water, road, health centre etc shouldn't find the corresponding tax difficult to pay. Where i have a problem is where pple start showing envy towards our churches because of their prosperity. If those giving to the church don't have a problem with it, i see no reason why non-believers should.
If the govt is taxing the church based on money changing hands alone then there should be a tax for gifts and any transaction, that way we can appreciate what we are doing here better.

stagger:

You are very silly for that statement you made. HIGHLY silly!

And having said that, I would advocate churches pay tax on revenue sources to support the maintenance of amenities that are used such as roads.

But then, how many of the tax advocates here pay tax, especially the drunken ogogoro man who made that silly post above?

You must be the silly thing high on ogogoro. You came here to talk thrash when u have absolutely no point to make. You are obviously incapable of an intellectual discourse and u know it, so pls just shut it stupid!

Yes, like other businesses.

nomorename:

Yes, like other businesses.

goshen360:

Without mincing word, CAPITAL YES!

LeoMax:

Unequivocal Yes

buJu-234:

not only tax; but they should b force to have Pension fund for the full time staff,

because at the end of the day; the G.O will tell the other pastor under him that they are working for God
and should expect reward 4rm God; meanwhile he has built a business empire for his children`s children,

ogogoromaster:


I have seriously advocated that all religious body pay tax.

With the incessant proliferation of religious bodies in Nigeria,I think there should even be a regulatory body.

991:

these guys hide under the umbrella of religion and extort cash from their followers , they collect offerings, special offerings, tithe, vows. if you invite a MOG you have to pay into his account and lodge him in a nice hotel. at police check-point they go free  without searching their cars, they have unquestioned access to peoples wives in the name of special prayers. am not jealous of them but to say the truth these guys should be paying all due taxes in accordance with the law.

But a religious organisation is not a business. Do NGOs pay tax? The money raised by religious organisations are by way of gifts, do u then say all gifts collected should be taxed?

I say any religious organisation that owns a business should have the business taxed, but not the religious organization itself cos any money the organisation receives is only by way of gifts and u cant tax gifts.

yeah

@FXking2012

An organization that has CEO, secretary, commander in chief, board of trustee, treasurer, sub-committees, hundreds of paid worker, security men, legal representatives/solicitors, branches nationwide, thousands of plots nationwide, billboards on roads and streets, regular advert on state and national televisions, etc, ohh common they should be taxed,

@sheyguy

yes man, much hatred and criticism on churches really because these guys has taken religion to another level, it is much more like a business organization than worshiping God.

991:

@FXking2012
An organization that has CEO, secretary, commander in chief, board of trustee, treasurer, sub-committees, hundreds of paid worker, security men, legal representatives/solicitors, branches nationwide, thousands of plots nationwide, billboards on roads and streets, regular advert on state and national televisions, etc,  ohh common they should be taxed,

How did Jesus pay tax? He sent Peter, who happened to be a fisherman by profession, to go to the river, cast his net and open the mouth of the first fish that is caught. Now this tells me that the business was taxed, not the ministry.
Remember the ministry had money of it's own which was under the care of Judas Iscariot (which the Bible records that Judas usually steals from), yet Jesus did not dip His hand into it to pay the tax, instead He sent Peter who was a professional fisherman to use his fishing boat and fishing tools to fish and get the money for the tax.

So churches should not be taxed, only their businesses should be taxed.

May be not direct tax, but they should be made to give back to the society. Fix roads, drainage, water, and these should be done compulsorily to the tune to the amount being taxed!!

@stagger.I have pay nothing less than 50k as PAYE/WHT on a monthly basics to Lagos State Internal Revenue Service.This I have done for the last 5years.If you need a copy of my Tax Clearance Certificate I would gladly forward one to you.I advocate taxing and regulating religious bodies because of the following:

1.Most of these organisation are cover ups for money laundering

2.As someone who have seen the accounts of most churches the bulk of their income comes from trading and investment e.g schools,investment in media houses,sales of books and audio materials etc

3.The constitution of Nigeria is sacrosact Nobody should misuse their authorities to kill children in the name of witchcraft or slap another adult

4.The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is one key example why the church should contribute (call it tax) to develop and build the roads.

@stagger let us stop this pity insults and jaw jaw to move the country forward.I am not silly,I am trying to reason with others

these church discussions especially those involving pastors and churches; but i'll like for people not to get blinded because churches are mentioned. I don't think is right for these people to just say something and we put them above the law because they are men of God. I'm not disputing that they are men of God, but i'll like my reader to remember that they are MEN!!! howbeit of God. You shouldn't lock up your mind and say things like do not say anything against the Lord's annointed, Paul didn't put Peter above the law but corrected him when he thought him wrong. So don't go lcking up your mind when u hear something spiteful about a mind of God because i don't think that will help either u or the man of God. For anymore religious comments, please think objectively about it before you comment and condemn.

@FXKing2012

thanks for sharing that dear, though i don't live by those stone-age story of fishermen and bla bla bla, religion is doing what you were told no matter what is right but i personally believe in doing what is right no matter what i was told. so i think they should be taxed.
once more thanks for sharing your points. cheers,

@nwani omar some churches try but govt opposes them; i know for one that winners chapel tried to fix Ota road b4 it was finally 'repaired' but the government didn't allow them

yes they should, with no exception both churches and mosque, but what is the govt doing with the oil money? we should not just yes because is being done elsewhere or just pure sentiment