Should God Pay Tax ?

One of the interesting thing to come out of the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse was a glimpse into the assets under the control of churches in Australia.  One of the peculiarities is that churches are absolved from paying any of the taxes with which we mere mortals are encumbered. They don't pay council rates on the properties they own, nor do they pay income tax, capital gains tax or even the GST.

It was the Roman Catholic church that came under the greatest scrutiny at this Royal Commission, because it has an appalling record of child abuse by priests - and because it is clearly the wealthiest  religious body in the world.   It is notoriously evasive about both the extent of its wealth and many conclude that its deposition on property treasures in both New South Wales and Victoria was seriously understated.   Independent experts estimate that the Catholic Church owns $ 30 billion in assets spread across Australia.

When it came to compensation for child abuse victims the church pleaded poverty.  The national compensation system established by the church in 1996 has averaged just $ 49,000 to individual victims. Prior to that, the church insisted on water tight confidentiality agreements be signed before any money changed hands.

The Catholic church is both an employer of people and a provider of services.  It runs an extensive school system and many hospitals, and in the distant past both were mainly staffed with Nuns and Priests who do not draw salaries.  Today, the staff come from all walks of life and many religions and they draw government subsidies and work on a commercial basis. This freedom from taxation gives them an edge against tax paying competitors.

It has long been the contention that it would be shameful to levy a tax on the house of God, but then it seems that God lives in many houses.   The Christian religion encompasses many divisions with different views on scripture and then there is Islam, also divided but also worshipping this same God. Any body of people who claim to be a " church " is usually included in this absolution from paying taxes.  The " Scientology " cult achieves this freedom, despite its style of religion being rejected by most other religions bodies.

The churches tell us that God is always in urgent need of money and they seek donations in his name. Many people nearing the end of life conclude that a substantial bequest may ease their way into heaven and will their home to a church.  In the distant past, the site of many great churches was either a bequest from the state or was bought cheaply.   Today, such sites in the centre of cities have untold commercial value and contribute nothing to the running of the city.

A long time ago Australia saw itself as a Christian nation, but today we are home to many from other parts of the world who practice religions which have world wide followings.  In the interest of tolerance and equality, this same tax freedom applies to these religions.

It is doubtful that we will ever see a building used for worship attracting council rates or any of the various imposts that apply to land holdings, but where churches own commercial activities such as providing insurance cover or profit generating retail sales it would not be unreasonable to see them pay their fair share of tax.

Getting that through parliament would certainly generate an interesting debate !