As Checkpoint's Nita Blake-Persen reports, you might be surprised how many products in your pantry are made by companies which don't have to pay tax. Continue read

One church in central Auckland, which asked not to be named, received an increase of 6900 percent, from $400 to $28,000.

The council issued new rates bills, without consultation, to the churches earlier this month, claiming many were using all or parts of their property for business, not religious purposes.

But the acting chair of the council's Finance and Performance Committee, and Orakei ward councillor, Desley Simpson, said churches did not have to pay the new rates bills until councillors and the mayor could reach an agreement.

A spokesperson for the Catholic Diocese of Auckland, Lyndsay Freer, said if the church had to pay the new rates bills it would have a "huge impact."

"It's a lot of money we're talking about and, for us, there's a considerable lack of clarity.

"We understand that the rates are for premises on our properties that are not used specifically for the purposes of worship, but we do have many buildings and facilities that are used for pastoral and not-for-profit work.

"There really does need to be clarification around what would qualify and what wouldn't."

The Anglican Church says it was disappointed by the bills, and hopes to work things out with the council.

"Our ministry units and their facilities are valuable resources to our communities, and this decision would have a detrimental effect by inhibiting the services our ministry units could provide," Bishop Ross Bay from the Anglican Diocese of Auckland told NZME.

"Auckland Council has responded well to us about this matter and we feel that we will be able to resolve it in a positive way."

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The petition requests: "That the House of Representatives pass legislation to tax all religious institutions."

The reason for the petition is: "Destiny Church and similar evangelical institutions are having a direct and negative impact on the vulnerable population.

Many followers are pressured to send more money to the church instead of feeding their children or paying bills. Income is often seen being spent on extravagance."

The petition is in the name of Kieran McKewen. It closes on 30 June. So far about 600 people have signed the petition.

On March 7 Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector Peeni Henare announced that a comprehensive . review of the Charities Act 2005 is underway.

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parliament.nz.

tvnz.co.nz

tvnz.co.nz

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Church ministers did not mince words when they expressed anger and disappointment at the Samoan government's decision to tax their incomes - and gratuities - starting on 1 January 2018.

However, prime minister Tuilaepa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi is unrepentant over the government's decision to tax the incomes and gratuities for church ministers.

He insists that taxes belong to the government and therefore church ministers should pay. That was his response to the latest wave of negative comments about the tax scheme targeting churches.

The seminar was held at Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi Building. It was supposed to be a platform for church ministers and government officials of the Ministry of Revenue to interact and raise issues associated with the taxing of pastors.

Several church ministers said the government had underestimated the impact of what they had done, not just on the church but on all members of the public.

Accepting the fact that they soon would be paying taxes, Reverend Siaosi Samuelu, of the Catholic Church at Salua Manono, urged the government to use tax monies wisely.

"There are countless families in Upolu especially at Aleipata who don't have access to water and electricity," he said. "Use those monies to help those families. Use it wisely please but don't abuse and waste them."

Ministry of Revenue officials said they would take note of the concerns expressed.

They also revealed that a form would be given to churches for pastors or church secretaries to indicate how much money a pastor receives. This form should then be submitted to the Ministry of Revenue with the payment of the tax.

One church minister took exception to this proposal, saying "It's not our duty to bring this form to your office after every fortnight."

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• Samoa Observer
• Samoa Observer
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If anything is uncovered a full investigation will then be carried out.

But stripping Destiny Church of its charity status risks turning Charities Services into a censor, a charity law expert says.

To be removed from the charities register the law requires evidence of "serious wrongdoing", said Sue Barker, director of law firm Charities Law and also the co-author of The Law and Practice of Charities in New Zealand.

"And deregistering a charity for "speaking out" could have the "chilling effect" of silencing others, Barker said.

"Do we really want the charities register to be the chief censor?

Destiny Church is registered under its Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Nelson, Taranaki, Tauranga, Wellington, Whakatane, and Whangarei branches.

There are 27,934 registered charities in New Zealand, according to the Charities Services. There are hundreds, if not thousands, which fail to get onto the register, Barker said.

"It's already very hard ... I argue we want them on the register because then they're subject to all this transparency."

"If they're not on it, and are carrying on with their work, what regulation are they subject to? Probably not any."

Barker said Tamaki himself is not a charity so his income should be taxable.

"I am not aware of his tax profile but I'm presuming he is an employee and he should pay tax on the income that he receives, unless he has an exemption but I can't think of one that he would qualify for," she says.

On Friday a spokesperson for the church said they have had no communication with Charities Services so would not be commenting on the development.

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• nzherald.co.nz
• lawsociety.org.nz
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But Tamaki's wife has tweeted, her husband will receive a tax return to the value of one third of every donation over $5.

Rainbow Youth supporters were encouraged to make the donations in Tamaki's name, using Destiny Church's office email address, to get back at him for things he said in a sermon Sunday before last.

In the sermon, given less that 24 hours before a massive 7.8 earthquake struck central New Zealand, Tamaki blamed gay people for causing natural disasters including earthquakes.

But as Tamaki's wife has tweeted that her husband will receive a tax return to the value of one third of every donation over $5

"Just letting u knw. if u do this. Brian will get a 3rd of that money back. in tax return. so go ahead. make a donation towards us. Thk u"

An online petition calling on the prime minister John Key to strip Destiny Church of its tax free status has been signed my more than 120,000 people.

Earlier prime minister John Key labelled Tamaki's remarks "ridiculous".

"The facts of life are New Zealand is a seismically prone country, with a number of very well identified fault lines," Key told RadioLive.

"It's nothing to do with people's sexuality. I mean, it's just madness."

Attorney General Chris Finlayson, who is gay, said "I think he needs a bit of counselling, frankly. He's a sick puppy."

Internal Affairs Minister, the United Future Peter Dunne tweeted:

"I do not favour taxing genuine churches & real charities, but as Destiny is obviously neither it should pay taxes like every other business"

As Internal Affairs Minister, Dunn oversees the registration of charities. But a spokesman for Dunne's office said removing the church's tax-exemption status wasn't within his power.

He told the Herald deregistering a charity was a lengthy process and if the petition went before Parliament a select committee would make a recommendation before referring the issue to Charities Services.

The Charities Services would then conduct a review determine whether the organisation fulfilled the criteria, the spokesman said.

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• nzherald.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• nzherald.co.nz
• Image: gaynz.com