For some reasons, discussing taxes is simply annoying to me because, at the end of the day, the government misuses the money for their personal interest, but then, this particular topic of tax is interesting because it's about if places of worship should pay taxes.
That is to say, the churches, mosques, and other places of worship wouldn't be exempted from paying tax anymore but would join the queue of taxpayers.
I am aware that a lot of places of worship nowadays received a whole lot of money, in millions, through offering, tithes, donations, and other forms of financial support from the members. If you try calculating the overall amount of money that troops into church accounts monthly or yearly, it's going to be a lot, no doubt!
But then, both individuals and businesses are all expected to pay taxes to the government even when some of them are struggling to meet up with this particular obligation. The big question is, why should places of worship not be part of taxpayers' tax, whereas they make a lot of money after all?
Firstly, not all churches or mosques make a lot of money. You will agree with me that most of these places of worship have fewer congregations and that they have less money while large one make w millions of money. The lesser churches struggle to maintain their church and run other activities with the little money that comes in.
Some of these places of worship also do a lot of charity work for the less privileged; they support the widows and orphans, offer scholarships, and do stuff like that, and these are things that can make them a real difference in society.
Now, if the government should put a tax on their head, have you imagined how the smaller churches will cope? In fact, the initiative could impose a financial burden on the members. I think there should be a clear difference between money meant for worship as well as charity activities and money these churches generated from businesses they engage in, like schools and others, so if there are any commercial businesses that give them money, such income can be considered for tax, not offering money that already has a spiritual purpose in my own view.
Some people sow seeds in the church for specific purposes, and such money should be used for such without attaching a tax to it; otherwise, the taxation could affect the worship experience if not careful. There's no need to remove unnecessary pressure on worshippers by implementing such ideas for donations, tithes, and offerings in the churches, because it's either the churches reduce the way they give or the church starts imposing bills on their heads so as to cover the taxes, which is not healthy.
Let the government focus on imposing tax on any commercial bussines churches do rather than taking tax from worshippers donations for church use.
At the end of the day, both the government and religion needs money to run activities , so finding balance between the two is the goal.
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