Fears of tax on shules
A BILL introduced into the Victorian Parliament to remove tax exemptions from charities that advocate religion has come under fire from the Victorian Opposition.
A BILL introduced into the Victorian Parliament to remove tax exemptions from charities that advocate religion has come under fire from the Victorian Opposition.
Introduced by Reason Party MP Fiona Patten in the Victorian Upper House, the proposed legislation would narrow the Land Tax Act to exclude advocacy of religion from exempted charitable activities, and would also exclude religious venues unless they are solely used for religious practice.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) president Jennifer Huppert said shules would be affected because “by its very nature, a synagogue is a community centre”.
Expressing her concern, Huppert told The AJN, “It would have a significant detrimental impact on a number of Jewish communal institutions because of its very narrow view of what a religious institution is and what a place of worship is. It doesn’t recognise the fact that for many religions, including Judaism, a place of public worship is more than that.”
A spokesperson for Patten said the proposed changes were aimed at commercial activities using the mantle of charities to gain tax exemptions, and specifically exclude religious-run charities and educational activities. “It’s designed to address tax minimisation by for-profit businesses that claim charitable status but don’t engage in any charitable work.”
However, the bill was condemned by Liberal Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs Inga Peulich as “a concerted effort to attack religious institutions”.
Peulich, who like Patten sits in the Upper House, invited representatives of churches, synagogues and mosques to a briefing at which she explained the implications of the bill.
She said religious communities that conduct any sort of commercial activity to raise funds for religious purposes could be stripped of tax exemptions.
Commercial activities would include schools and other institutions connected to the religious organisation, she said.
The bill would also remove tax-exempt status from any religious organisation publicly endorsing a political figure.
Mark Sneddon, a former Crown Counsel, told the briefing that Patten’s bill was “not thought through” and would “create a profound mess”.
Australian Christian Lobby’s Victorian director Dan Flynn said such a law would “strike at the very heart of charities from communities that gather in churches, mosques and synagogues”.
PETER KOHN
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