Why Churches Must Pay Tax – Abati

Reuben Abati, a prominent journalist and former presidential media adviser, has said churches and religious places of worship in Nigeria, especially those engaged in business-making ventures, must pay tax.

Abati canvassed this point while writing on the current state of civil society organisations (CSOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Nigeria in an opinion editorial, entitled: “CSOs, NGOs and their discontents”, published on Tuesday.

Religious places of worship are exempt from paying taxes in Nigeria as they are classified as NGOs.

But making reference to a comment by Temitayo Orebajo, a Director at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), who recently stated that CSOs in Nigeria that are involved in “trade and business” must pay tax, Abati insisted that religious houses who conduct business ventures must reciprocate by paying their fair share of revenue to the appropriate authorities.

According to the ex-media adviser to former president Goodluck Jonathan, a host of churches in the country operate various types of lucrative businesses, which in turn, provide huge profits for them.

He wrote: “Once an NGO begins to engage in ‘trade and business’, it must be prepared to pay taxes. This includes those churches and places of religious worship that run travel agencies, schools, bakeries and that manufacture water and other items, including anointing oil, from which they make huge profits. Some of the most lucrative businesses in Nigeria today belong to churches. In God’s name, people are cashing out and claiming that they are NGOs.”

Abati said the CSO and NGO landscape must be sanitised, with individuals who masquerade as non-profit organisations generating huge profits exorcised from the list.

“I am of the firm view that some level of regulation, accountability and transparency is required. There are too many NGOs out there that are merely fronts for other businesses. Nigerians are too busy trying to break or evade the law. Too many individuals parading as non-profit organisations.

“The usual tendency is to see every attempt at control or regulation on civil society groups as an assault on the civic space. While it is true that the Nigerian government has been complicit in this regard, it is also true that civil society in Nigeria is problematic and cannot be placed above scrutiny,” he wrote.