Since religion is now unquestionably a business, it should be handled as such. Churches should be taxed.

Start with your mosque .

Joagbaje:

Start with your mosque .

Of course, we wouldn't want your source of income to be decimated now, would we?
The only bad thing is that the guy who wrote this article is like 1 in a 1000 and we know the other 999 are too ignorant and cowardly to see he is the one that actually cares.

A clergyman is one who feels himself called upon to live without working at the expense of the rascals who work to live.” – Voltaire (1694 – 1778)

The above quote, even though it is from the 18th century, is even truer now than it was then. A report highlighted at least three Nigerian pastors who own private jets: Sam Adeyemi, Enoch Adeboye and David Oyedepo. The latter owns four jets, the last one bought in March at a cost of $30m. Buying a jet doesn’t end there. The maintenance of it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Where is this money coming from? The congregations of these Pastors bankroll their lifestyles through weekly or monthly tithes paid into church coffers, special offerings for special prayers and so on. The idea is that by giving these people your money, prosperity and breakthrough follow. This is the contract, and this is why a lot of Christians seem indifferent. After all, they weren’t forced to give, or so they think.
There is something about religous practice that bypasses rational thought and goes straight for the emotions. If this weren’t the case, how can we criticise our public officials for taking such obscene salaries and allowances, and then give these "Men of God" a free pass? They should be subject to the same condemnation, because it is essentially the same thing. Religious leaders and politicians in this country are connected by the brazen, barely believable levels of excess they display. It is an excess funded by the collective wealth of the people. They also feed off each other: Politicians make hefty donations to churches with mostly ill-gotten wealth, while the pastors of those churches pray for them.

The proceeds from church business are second only to the benefits of being a government official in Nigeria. When congregations see their pastors display amazing wealth, they do anything to attain it as well. So when a preacher speaks out against corruption, moral decadence, and so on, the message is dead on arrival. Most don’t practice what they preach. The commercialisation of religion has been made possible by the proliferation of churches which concentrate authority in a single individual. He is the star of the show
. In older denominations like the Catholic Anglican churches such displays of wealth are non existent because there are no stars, there is no special treatment and no one owns things like cars, houses, expensive suits and so on. For example, the Pope, head of a billion Catholics worldwide, flies Alitalia when he travels. They can do this because they have no wives or children to cater for, while Pentecostal pastors do. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they should be poor, but since religion is now unquestionably a business, it should be handled as such. Churches should be taxed.

Churches are tax exempt because they are non-profit organisations which engage in charity like feeding the poor, running orphanages and so on. Obviously, this is no longer the case. Many churches have taken advantage of government failure in education to build universities and charge astronomical amounts of money as tuition, to say nothing of the fact that these institutions have all kinds of draconian regulations. If every church had to justify their tax exempt status by showing proof of charitable activities they are engaged in, nearly all would fail the test. State governments, especially in the South, can increase their revenue base significantly by taxing religious organizations and using the money to expand social services. The religious organizations would most likely be more interested in what goes on in the state, leading to more accountability.

For as long as such huge inequality exists in this country, flagrant displays of excess on the part of anyone who does nothing but help himself to the commonwealth of the majority should be frowned upon. A wealth redistribution is overdue.

I see no reason why all for profit religious organisation shouldn't be taxed and properly regulated.

CEO Oyedepo
David Oyedepo, bishop of the Living Faith Church, also known as Winners Chapel
vividly captured the reason for the business approach of many Pentecostal
pastors to evangelism in his book Exploits In Ministry. In the book, he described
ministry as "essentially business." He says: "Without doubt, one of the reasons
why most ministries ordained of God fall short of expectation or collapse
completely is due to their unbusiness-like approach to ministry. Ministry is
essentially business. Jesus said: Wist ye not that I must be about my father's
business (Luke 2:49). It is God's business, not the father's religion… We have
been accused of turning ministry into a business. But that is not true. We met it
as a business, Jesus, the author and founder of Ministry told us it is a business."
Oyedepo explained that just as business involves investment and profit making,
pastors invest in ministry to make profit.

I don't believe religious organisations should be taxed, however I believe they should be well regulated to ensure that the funds accruing to them is judiciously utilised in meeting the evangelical and charitable motives of the church.

musKeeto:

CEO Oyedepo
David Oyedepo, bishop of the Living Faith Church, also known as Winners Chapel
vividly captured the reason for the business approach of many Pentecostal
pastors to evangelism in his book Exploits In Ministry. In the book, he described
ministry as "essentially business." He says: "Without doubt, one of the reasons
why most ministries ordained of God fall short of expectation or collapse
completely is due to their unbusiness-like approach to ministry. Ministry is
essentially business. Jesus said: Wist ye not that I must be about my father's
business (Luke 2:49). It is God's business, not the father's religion… We have
been accused of turning ministry into a business. But that is not true. We met it
as a business, Jesus, the author and founder of Ministry told us it is a business."
Oyedepo explained that just as business involves investment and profit making,
pastors invest in ministry to make profit.

It's a play of words . One could have said "marriage is a serious Bussoness" business is not necessarily in terms of money. Church is not a business in that sense, but some churches runs certain businesses such business can be taxed. It is not registered as church but a business enterprise

Pastors invest in ministry to make profits?

Profits is also a play of words?

Joagbaje:

It's a play of words . One could have said "marriage is a serious Bussoness" business is not necessarily in terms of money. Church is not a business in that sense, but some churches runs certain businesses such business can be taxed. It is not registered as church but a business enterprise

Jesus' father's business is supposed to mean saving "souls" and not accumulating the so called worldly wealth that these pastors are after.

At the end of the day, the external business started by these churches are also to benefit the church so if the church can't show substantial charitable works, then that means the money is going into somebody's pockets. Why else would a church have all that money while they are supposed to be a charitable organization.

with all the faults and ridiculous practices of the richest church, the catholic church, they can at least point to the charitable works they do, no matter how flawed.

Despite the inherent dishonesty or ignorance of a pastor, most people wouldn't complain if these pastors actually used the money they get from their ignorant followers to actually improve the lives of the followers.  Seriously, if I wanted to be unethical and get into this church business and deceive enough people, I wouldn't buy a jet,  I would rent one anytime I want( afterall, its really my money)  but the money that would be used to buy one could build a university comparable to those in the west( i doubt convenant is)  and then make it free fo the very best brains in the country, charge a full reasonable price for outsiders and subsidize heavily for the members whose "offerings and tithes" actually make things run. That would be one way to stop the brain drain that has left people like Joagbaje as some of the "smartest" in the country.

Was d saying[b]"GIVE UNTO CAESER[/b]" not referring to paying taxes?

musKeeto:

CEO Oyedepo
David Oyedepo, bishop of the Living Faith Church, also known as Winners Chapel
vividly captured the reason for the business approach of many Pentecostal
pastors to evangelism in his book Exploits In Ministry. In the book, he described
ministry as "essentially business." He says: "Without doubt, one of the reasons
why most ministries ordained of God fall short of expectation or collapse
completely is due to their unbusiness-like approach to ministry. Ministry is
essentially business. Jesus said: Wist ye not that I must be about my father's
business (Luke 2:49). It is God's business, not the father's religion… We have
been accused of turning ministry into a business. But that is not true. We met it
as a business, Jesus, the author and founder of Ministry told us it is a business."
Oyedepo explained that just as business involves investment and profit making,
pastors invest in ministry to make profit.

Joagbaje:

It's a play of words . One could have said "marriage is a serious Bussoness"  business is not necessarily in terms of money. Church is not a business in that sense, but some churches runs certain businesses such business can be taxed. It is not registered as church but a business enterprise

It is worst than that.  There is no business in the original greek.  Oyedepo picked a bad translation purposefully so he could twist it to his own nonsense.  All Jesus said is 'why are you looking for me, don't you know I should be with my father'.  Or about my father. 

καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς· τί ὅτι ἐζητεῖτε με; οὐκ ᾖδειτε ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρός μου δεῖ εἶναι με;

Greek Transliteration Strong's Morphology English
καὶ kai 2532 CONJ And
εἶπεν eipen 2036 V-2AAI-3S he said
πρὸς pros 4314 PREP unto
αὐτοὺς autous 846 P-APM them
τί ti 5101 I-NSN why
ὅτι oti 3754 CONJ that
ἐζητεῖτε ezēteite 2212 V-IAI-2P you were seeking
με me 3165 P-1AS me
οὐκ ouk 3756 PRT-N not
ᾖδειτε ēdeite 1492 V-LAI-2P had you known
ὅτι oti 3754 CONJ that
ἐν en 1722 PREP about
τοῖς tois 3588 T-DPN the
τοῦ tou 3588 T-GSM of
πατρός patros 3962 N-GSM Father's
μου mou 3450 P-1GS of me
δεῖ dei 1163 V-PAI-3S it is necessary for
εἶναι einai 1511 V-PAN to be
με

http://biblos.com/luke/2-49.htm

There is not a single word in the greek that means business.  To be honest, I didn't know enough about Oyedepo before so the jury was still out.  But after this I know for certain that he is a rogue and charlatan and a Lying thief. 

It's despicable.

[size=16pt]Yes, seconded. If they have enough money to buy Private Jets, 4 for that matter , then they should be able to pay taxes!!![/size]

I feel they should pay taxes and if not directly, their books should be audited by external auditors yearly and at least 10% of such incomes should be mandatorily used for CSR. That will be the church paying HER OWN tithe to God, no?
And purchase of luxury items should be taxed at about 50 to 60%. . . .erring pastors should be 'deposed' or suspended from praeching for a period of 1 year.
Monthly income and benefits of pastors from the church coffers(excluding things like book sales and tape sales) should also be made public yearly.
Sound nice?

I am yet 2 c the infrastructure, basic amenities and quality educational facilities the govt has been able 2 put in place using national allocations and tax money collected from hard working citizens and corporate firms that r doing their best 2 keep this country's economy up and running. So if the reason for taxing a religious institution [of which the law forbids them paying tax] is so that we can have more money to build good roads and schools then I think we have lost it. I think ppl shud stop using NL as a means of showing their backwardness, illiteracy and ignorance,

ARE U GUYS NUTS??

tax churches

NO!! and NO!!

if their businesses ministries are flourishing to the extent of buying private jets, then its their own cross to carry at the end,  besides is it only in nigeria that pastors are this rich??

go to the US and see Mega churches with filty rich pastors,

Fact is the LAW IS THE LAW!! and its also an a 5 5, (and maybe a binsh) if they are Non-profit (as the law says) then they should not be taxed



simple

Joagbaje:

It's a play of words . One could have said "marriage is a serious Bussoness"  business is not necessarily in terms of money. Church is not a business in that sense, but some churches runs certain businesses such business can be taxed. It is not registered as church but a business enterprise

While the churches are not being taxed, their derivatives are being taxed directly and indirectly. I work at covenant university and the tax we pay is among the highest anywhere in the country. Personally, N10k is being drawn from my pay while my colleague/equivalent in a federal university pays around N3k.

follow the link to access the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and answers on Religious Matters

http://www.lirs.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69


Churches can be taxed as it was held in Sodipo & Ors v FBIR  (1974)

where it was held that where a Church organised and incorporated a company that carries on the business of dealing in real estates, the company is liable to pay tax on rent collections.

Thus, 30 percent is the tax rate imposed on the profits of any company accruing in, derived from, brought into or received in Nigeria (see section 8 CITA). The species of profits envisaged under CITA include profits from any trade or business for whatever period of time such trade or business may have been carried on; rent or any premium arising from a right granted to any other persons for the use or occupation of any property; dividends, interest, discounts, royalties, charges or annuities; fees, dues and allowances (wherever paid) for services, etc. On the other hand, it must be noted that there are species of profits which are not included and thus not taxable, for instance the profits of any company engaged in ecclesiastical, charitable or educational activities of a public character in so far as such profits are not derived from a trade or business carried on by such company. However, where a institution under the guise of charitable purposes carries on a profitable business it cannot thereby avoid or evade payment of tax on the profits from such a business

bear in mind that the monies paid in church by the various members have been taxed by the government earlier,

Simple solution. UK - Style Charity Commission as a regulator.

Can u tax God
Whayever people give in church they do it becos of God not for man
If you give to a man of God is for ur interest not mine when Jesus was on earth physical the bible says that mary magdalene minister to his needs that time people thinking was not open
Look at the ministry of paul it was different it took a new dimension cos more people were giving and that‘s how it has been;more and more will give and even higher, new revelation about giving; well am not saying a man of God should useless the givings in church,

Interestingly enough is the fact that most of these megachurches in Nigeria get their examples from American Celebrity preachers who teach Prosperity gospel as against conventional christian spirituality and consciousness and the love of God for who is.
That quote by Oyedopo about God's ministry being essentialy business is nothing short of heresy. Heresy is a one very common practise amongst American megachurch preachers and that is where Oyedepo draws his inspirations and examples from. One pastor that I am convinced Oyedopo follows his words and writings to its full length is Rev Fedrick K.C Price, this preacher whose teachings are considered heretical with a particular emphasis on the 'prosperity gospel'.
He fully realizes that his theology is considered heretical at best have many controversial comments and twists to his teachings of prosperity that will leave one dazed in amazement at the thought of what he says. Here are a few excerpts from his audio teachings and tapes: "God can't do anything in this earth realm except what we, the body of Christ, allow Him to do. Now that statement is so--that's so--that's so foreign and so contrary to tradition that, like I said, if they could get their hands on me right now most evangelicals would burn me at the stake and dismember me and feed me to the crocodiles, because they'll consider that statement to be just heresy." -Source: "Ever Increasing Faith," May 1, 1992, audiotape.
He is unabashed about the pursuit of wealth as a sign of God's blessing and does not shy away from ostentatious displays himself.
Price has added his own unique twists to Faith theology by asserting that Jesus took on the nature of Satan prior to the crucifixion and by claiming that the Lord's Prayer is not for Christians today. Despite telling his followers that he doesn't allow sickness in his home, Price's wife has been treated for cancer in her pelvic area.
Referring to his wealth, Price says the reason he drives a Rolls Royce is that he is following in Jesus' steps. Price who has become famous for his anti biblical stance of If you have to say,“if it be thy will or thy will be done- if you have to say that, then you are calling God a fool.” He explains “What they told me to do was that whenever I prayed I should always say, 'The will of the Lord be done.,' Now, doesn't that sound humble? It does. Sounds like humility, it's really stupidity. I mean, you know, really, we insult God. I mean, we really do insult our Heavenly Father. We do; we really insult Him without even realizing it. If you have to say, 'If it be thy will or' Thy will be done'-if you have to say that, then you're calling God a fool because he's the One that told us to ask, (“Ever Increasing Faith” program on)
He also promotes the myth that Jesus was very rich and incorporates this into his theology of why every believer should be rich. “The whole point is I'm trying to get you to see-to get you out of this malaise of thinking that Jesus and the disciples were poor and then relating that to you thinking that you, as a child of God, have to follow Jesus. TheBible says that He has left us an example that we should follow His steps.
I find this excerpt, also from his audio teachings, particularly interesting: That's the reason why I drive a Rolls Royce. I'm following Jesus' steps.
This particular one is my favourite too: You can talk about me all you want while I'm driving by in my Rolls Royce that's paid for, and I got the pink slip on it. Talk all you want. Bad mouth all you want. Don't hurt me in the least. Doesn't bother me. It's a whole lot easier to be persecuted when I'm riding in my car and I got the pink slip than it is when I'm riding in a car and owe my soul to the company store.
This is where our American Preacher wanna-be pastors get their inspiration and mindset from.

ms_queen:

bear in mind that the monies paid in church by the various members have been taxed by the government earlier,

Really? Including the ones received from politicians?

The antichrist,there is no traces for fear of God in you. That is why you will continue dreaming for the top but never get there. If church is now business why can't you establish one or tell your father to do.

Aboluwarin:

The antichrist,there is no traces for fear of God in you. That is why you will continue dreaming for the top but never get there. If church is now business why can't you establish one or tell your father to do.

So Oyedepo was wrong? and God is always right/////

long overdue in Nigeria, they are siphoning the nation

Read ur Bible and understand it ur own way, thats all I have to say.

Tax Churches?For what?Dont most of them own schools,hospitals etc that are taxed by the government?If Pastors are rich,must they be poor?Government collect our taxes without doing meaningfull things with it so even if they collect Churches and Mosques join, they will still embezzle the money.

prettyG:
Since religion is now unquestionably a business, it should be handled as such. Churches should be taxed.

Churches, Mosques, Shrines,... all religious businesses needed to be taxed for at least the next 50 years.