(S. Korean) Government to introduce 'church taxes'

[FBM]

About goddamn time. Korea, afaik, is leading the pack in this:

Government to introduce 'church taxes'

By Kim Tae-jong

The government is expected to collect income tax from priests, monks and other members of religious groups who have been exempted from taxation on their earnings for decades, officials familiar with the issue said Wednesday

The move is part of the finance ministry’s tax code revision to expand tax revenue and develop a fair taxation system under the principle that “there is tax where there is income.”

“The finance ministry is in discussion with religious groups for this matter,” an official from Ministry of Strategy and Finance said. “If they can successfully form a consensus, the ministry will include taxation on clergy to the tax reform bill that will be announced on Aug. 8.”

The idea of taxation on religious professionals was first discussed in 1968 and the government has pushed ahead with its plan to tax the clergy but failed due to strong opposition from religious groups.

Religious groups argued that they should not be treated as salaried workers because their religious activities are different from ordinary work that earns money.

But there is growing understanding between religious groups that clergy should be no longer excused from tax-paying duties, which is a positive sign for the legislation of the taxation on clergy, said the official.

Currently, Catholic priests and some Protestant church leaders are voluntarily paying income tax but a large number of religious professionals, including monks, still do not pay tax, raising inequality issues.

Korea has about 360,000 priests, monks and other members of religious orders, and taxing them is expected to raise about 100 billion won in additional annual revenue.

The government has sought ways to reduce the number of ‘blind spots’ in taxation to expand the tax base and support President Park Geun-hye’s welfare policies.

The ministry’s tax reform bill, subject to approval by lawmakers, is also expected to include plans to increase the tax burden on the rich and offer more benefits to the poor in an apparent gesture to achieve a fairer taxation system.

The outline for the bill is that a household with high income will have lower tax deduction from their expenses such as medicine and education while low income families will get more tax returns, especially those with children.

[Kristie]

[pErvinalia]

[JacksSmirkingRevenge]

Pay unto Caesar, baby!

Religious groups argued that they should not be treated as salaried workers because their religious activities are different from ordinary work that earns money.

In what way, I wonder?

[FBM]

They don't produce anything.

[Mysturji]

When I saw the thread title, I thought it meant they were going to tax people for being members of a church, with (some 0f) the proceeds going to the church. I think they have something like that in Germany.
Thank fuck I got it wrong, and that someone is finally getting it right!
Now they just need to introduce something like a corporation tax for the churches themselves.

Pay unto Caesar, baby!

Religious groups argued that they should not be treated as salaried workers because their religious activities are different from ordinary work that earns money.

In what way, I wonder?

They don't produce anything.

Beat me to it.

[FBM]

[pErvinalia]

Eff... your avatar is disturbing me. Get back to the titties!

[Tero]

The tax on people where there is a state approved, lutheran etc., religion is typically 1% of income. In Nordic countries that is the only way to get weddings funerals etc done in church, to belong. They own most of the cemeteries.

It's a simple web based system to drop out. I had to ask them if I was still registered a Lutheran. They said no, I was deleted in the 70s.

Some fundie had thousands unjoining a month ago. She put church above law. And she is minister of justice.

[Tyrannical]

What they need to do is levy property taxes against universities, what a tax boondoggle that is.

[Svartalf]

Lovely, just took them a measly 45 years to do it.

Now, let's see when the US follow suit. as taxing churches is definitely NOT preventing the worshippers from practicing their religion, it's just reducing the luxury in which the clergy lives, and said clergy can't cop out by claiming they are acting as patrons of the arts like the Cat lickers used to do.

[Coito ergo sum]

The power to tax is the power to destroy.

[Robert_S]

The power to tax is the power to destroy.

How so?

[Coito ergo sum]

The power to tax is the power to destroy.

How so?

It was explained by Daniel Webster in his argument in the seminal case of McCulloch v Maryland in or around 1819. The power of congress to create, and of course, to continue, the bank....is no longer to be considered as questionable. That the power of taxing it by the states may be exercised so as to destroy it, is too obvious to be denied."

A tax can be used to accomplish policy ends —to induce, deter, or change conduct. As such, taxing of religious institutions cuts at the very core of the separation of church and state, as the government begins to depend on revenues from churches, and therefore has an interest in fostering their financial success (just as it has an interest in fostering employment and success of taxpaying businesses). Further, it has the power to force taxpayers to do things and/or to coerce them to do things via the tax code: behave like X and you get taxed. Refrain, and you aren't taxed.

Cigarette taxes reduce smoking. Gas taxes change the way people drive and what they drive.

The power to tax is the power to control, and to destroy. It's just a question of degree.

[Tero]

Taxation is a democratic process. You own a piece of Gubment. Saddam did not need no stinking taxes, he could just pump oil.