Sir lastnail wrote on Nov 11
th, 2011 at 12:23pm:
Verge wrote on Nov 11
th, 2011 at 12:12pm:
Sir lastnail wrote on Nov 11
th, 2011 at 11:34am:
Verge wrote on Nov 11
th, 2011 at 11:29am:
Those people all would have paid tax on their income from speaking engagements and business enterprises.
Nothing new there nail.
you are full of it.
Quote:Like all religions, the Pentecostals have a big advantage over the commercial world in that they do not have to pay tax, they do not file tax returns, they get government concessions and grants, much of their workforce is voluntary so they have relatively small wage bills, and there is little accountability and transparency about what they do or how they spend the money.
It is these tax breaks, the millions of dollars rolling in the doors of these churches, and the lack of accountability, that is fuelling a growing body of critics.
“Many of these ministers have made themselves multi-millionaires. They are no more than business magnates who benefit from the tax-free status of corporations that they lead. They are not ‘pastors’ but business managers who have cashed in on a loophole in the Western governmental tax system.”
False reporting, the Church cannot just give the money over to the Pastors without the Pastor incurring some tax liability.
It was an article written in BRW magazine.
http://hillsongchurch.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/hillsong-gods-millionaires/maybe you are wrong. wouldn't be a first
It all comes down to who owns these assets. If the church owns them, there is still a fringe benefits tax liability, they cant step around that. Any income moved to them is taxed by them.
Ultimatley, if these guys die and the church owns everything, then the church keeps it.
Tax law I know.
You need to understand the law if you want to mount a case against it, so look up the taxation law definition of not for profit and dispersing of income.
You keep missing the points though, you want them taxed because you are claiming they are corporates. Thats false because of the dispersement of income.
If you had of said you want not for profits taxed, and all not for profits taxed because you think every organisation should be taxed then thats a whole other story.
But then again you would like the local cricket club with 20 players and $1000 in the bank paying tax too