Confab wants churches, mosques to pay tax

Punch Newspaper is reporting this morning that delegates to the ongoing National Conference on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted that religious bodies in the country should pay tax to the government.

If the recommendation is passed into law by the National Assembly, it means that churches and mosques in the country will begin to pay tax to the coffers of the government.

The decision to make religious bodies pay taxes came up when a delegate representing civil organisations, Mallam Naseer Kura, during his contribution on the report of the Committee on Religion, said that religious leaders were making much money and should be taxed.

Kura complained that pastors were making too much money at the expense of the people and that many of them owned private jets and universities.

He said with the amount of money that the religious leaders made, they should be made to pay tax to the government.

Also in his contribution, a delegate representing the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Mr. Isaac Ighure, frowned at the situation where he said pastors and heads of churches made too much money not to pay tax.

He stressed that religious bodies should be made to pay taxes and that the elite must stop abusing the poor in the society, saying “some people buy private jets when people in their churches are suffering and living in abject poverty, they should be made to pay taxes.

Should churches and mosques be made to pay taxes? But isn't that also double taxation as we who give this money to these religious houses have already paid taxes on them.

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