I'm curious... Does anybody know if churches in a lot of countries outside the United States enjoy similar tax exempt status for charitable purposes? Or is the church taxed like any other institution in other countries?
Several European nations tax churches and church members, but those nations also finance some church operations from public funds.
I would say that most nations now desire a public church to register. This does not mean tax exemption in many countries but it is simply a requirement to register so they can know what people are doing.
In Houston the mayor has to approve your sermons. Must have been to Mayor School in North Korea.
in india you not get permission to build churches unless you belong to an organised church like church of south india etc. a normal home church like ours if we want to build a building then we get permission only if we remove christian or church from our building purpose. tax exemption is far from reality. personally i believe a church should not accept tax benefit as a non profitable. we are not supposed to have any coloberation with government. when Jesus payed church happily why should the body of Christ not pay.
Here its not specifically for churches per se but any organisation that trades not for profit commonly called a section 21 status.
Thanks all for your feed back. I have been curious about this, and how the saints have handled these things in other countries, and how that has impacted charity issues in other parts of the world. I personally believe that in America we will see churches lose their tax exempt status within a couple decades. Although researching the history of it in America recently, it seems it had been part if our common law practice since colonial days.
In the UK you can register as a charitable organisation and donors can claim their tax back. However, there are strings attached that make it difficult to adhere to their requirements. Our church has opted out of charitable status and we forgo the tax benefits so that we do not need to conform to their awkward requirements.
Jesus said when you give do not even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing Matthew 6:3
This could possibly be the easiest scripture to follow. You could teach it to a 4 year old. But what do we do? We right our name on an envelope telling our church how much is inside. They right it into their books and both the Church and you tell the Governement at the end of the year. They give you next to nothing in the form of a tax credit and you receive the full reward of your giving from them as pennies on the dollar and both you and the churches are near broke and can't figure out why.
Give unto God what is Gods and give unto Ceasar what is Ceasars. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Tax exempt status is one of the biggest blunders the church ever made.
Marc mc
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