Should we tax the churches/mosques/synagogues?
Yes absolutely! They have been getting a free ride for far too long in this country.
Are Mosque,Temple,Synagogues tax exempt in USA??
I watched this John Oliver's take over televangelist where he says Churches in USA are tax exempt... Does it cover only Churches?? How about Mosques,Temples,Synagogues or Buddhist monastries???
Why should churches be tax exempt in the US?
They shouldn't be. The tax-exempt status isn't in the constitution, it's a piece of the tax code. It was put there under the assumption that churches would do charitable work that's good for their community. Because of the political muscle of religious believers, the IRS rarely ever actually checks to see if a church *is* doing any charitable work, and they grant the status automatically (especially to 'christian' churches). If churches had to open their books and account for their 'charitable work,' a great many of them would be shown to be complete scams, or not doing any decent amount of charitable work with the money they take in. Those churches that do little or no charitable work should indeed lose their tax-exempt status. There's no reason they shouldn't be taxed like any other profit-oriented enterprise. Peace.
Do temples, mosques, churches, gurdwaras etc. pay taxes in India?
As per Indian Income Tax Act 1961, income of Charitable or religious trust is exempt from tax.The trust must apply 85% of income derived for its religious activities or the object of the trust the balance can be accumulated and used in subsequent year.Any donation made to such notified trust are allowed as deduction under section 80G of Income Tax Act.Being said this, most of the trust will apply funds for there religious activities there are so many instances were Income of temples was taxable since the same was not used for the aforesaid purposes.All the trust has to register under section 12AA of income tax act, they have to maintain accounts and get there accounts audited by a Chartered Accountant if there income is more than 1,80,000. Along with that they should also file Income Tax returns