DEBATE: Should churches be taxed?

WHY NOT? THEY HAVE BECOME BUSINESS Do you ever look at your pay-slip and imagine how much better your life would be if there was nothing like gross and net salary on it? I probably would be a millionaire by now but unfortunately, the only gross anything I see is the sum that I have to pay in taxes. Well, someone has got to do it and one part of me is happy to oblige. So how is this connected to the topic of the day? I have failed to understand why I should work a job from which I earn only once a month and pay taxes while someone who is running a business, bringing in money every Sunday, actually lots of it, is exempted? My colleague actually saw me writing this and asked me what I expected the churches to pay their members of staff. Seriously? When the government exempted churches from paying taxes, they were still churches in the true sense of the word. There were choirs, men and women who sang in church because they wanted to, volunteers sweeping and cleaning the church compounds and if you were a good Christian, the most you were expected to do was part with ten percent of your earnings. Someone will tell me that it’s because these volunteers are no longer available, and we all know that that’s a complete lie. Today, we have churches that have full time jobs like Creative Director of Music and something. What churches are doing by offering employment is trying to lure more members or should I say ‘clients’ and that’s okay but if you need to employ people then it’s also fine to not shy away from the fact that you are actually running a business. Whoever coined the saying ‘as poor as a church mouse’ obviously never anticipated how rich churches and their pastors would be at some point. The problem is that we preach honesty and we do try to live by what we preach but anything that involves money is bound to make even the most dedicated flock tell a lie. Nasra Bishumba *** ONLY THE ONES THAT MAKE A LOT OF MONEY 1 Corinthians 16:2 states; “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come.” This is the origin of the tithe we give out in Church and also the main source of revenue for the Churches most of us will frequent this Easter weekend. Should this money be taxed? I don’t think so. According to Rwandan laws, religious organisations are exempt from paying taxes. Our law makers must have known the social value of churches to most of our youth when they exempted Churches and religious organisations from paying taxes. Like the government, churches tend to be closer to people especially those in rural areas. Also, the same government policy that exempts churches from paying taxes protects non-profit organisations and charities. Taxation of churches would end up making charitable organisations like the Red Cross taxable since church falls under the same category. I am against taxation of churches because if it happened, it would work in favour of churches that have made it, and affect the smaller ones where the majority of our people who need spiritual guidance go. Small churches would have to hire more personnel to comply by the new laws in place while bigger churches would find it easy to higher accountants and tax lawyers. The other reason I think churches should be exempted from paying taxes is because they actually end up giving out most of their profits to charities. The church is one of the biggest donor to charitable organisations and taxing them would hinder the work of charities. Churches help in educating our youth the importance of living a holy life. In Sunday school, and various youth groups (cells and Bible studies), that are all creations of the church, our youth are taught not to kill, steal, fight…etc. If these churches shut down because of taxation, our societies will be prone to all these vices. Taxing churches will lead to the probable end of schools that work with churches. This would be a big blow to education as these schools actually have been known to produce the best citizens of this country. Finally, churches going out of business will put many out of work, and more unemployment is not what this country needs. I would like to end with a small recommendation; if government is to tax churches, it should only tax those churches that make an insane amount of money. Government would have to indicate a certain amount over which churches begin paying taxes. Some churches have really exceeded their purpose; they are no longer here to serve Christ but to make money. Bryan Kimenyi

Lifestyle

DEBATE: Should churches be taxed?