Taxation: New law causes concern in churches – VOA report

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Taxation: New law causes concern in churches – VOA report

2:51 CAT | 04 May 2022

FILE - Methodist Church, Maputo, Mozambique. [File photo: VOA Português]

The Christian Council of Mozambique professes surprise because discussion of the newly proposed law did not reach consensus on taxes

Mozambique will soon have a new law mandating the registration and regulating the activity of religious denominations. The proposal establishes a minimum number of signatures for the registration of a church, but what worries Christians more is that churches will be obliged to pay tax.

The government recently submitted to parliament a proposal to revise the law on religion, with the professed aim of “bringing order to the sector”.

Minister of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Helena Kida, said that an analysis of the sector revealed warning signs, and that the new law would bring order in a scenario of runaway proliferation of churches.

“The law defines, exactly, what the procedures are for creating a religious confession, where they must operate and who can direct these confessions,” Minister Kida summarised.

In official terms, Mozambique has a total of 900 registered religious denominations, but the numbers can hide a lot.

One of the novelties in the proposal is the mandatory registration, and the need for 2,000 signatures to legalise a church.

“When we started the debate, we had a proposal for 60,000 signatures, but, taking into consideration the sensitivity of the denominations themselves, we reduced it until we found middle ground,” Minister Kida explained.

Separating the wheat from the chaff

The Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM) approves most of the emphases of the future law, acknowledging that it is time to thin the ranks.

“What the government wants is to bring order. We participated in the debates and, unfortunately, because they took place during Covid-19 restrictions, there may not have been the scope that was intended. But much of what is proposed, we consider opportune,” president of the Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM), Felicidade Chirindza, says.

However, one aspect of the new legislation worries the Christian community: that churches should be taxed, much to their dismay.

“It’s an aspect that was talked about, but we didn’t reach any consensus. Nevertheless, the government has decided that it should go ahead with the tax,” Chirindza complains, noting that churches have never been taxed since they started to operate.

ALSO READ: Mozambique: Churches to pay taxes; tithes and offerings considered taxable – Domingo

Mozambique taxing income-generating churches

Some analysts look at the government’s new direction with concern, observing that Mozambique is supposed to be a secular state.

By William Mapote

Source: VOA Português