It was approved by National Congress a bill to forgive the debts of churches with the Union. Although it still needs to be sanctioned by the president of the republic, the project provides for the forgiveness of a debt greater than R$ 1 billion.
The church fines are the result of fines imposed by the Federal Revenue after the temples have made payments to pastors and other religious leaders without paying the due taxes, appearing as a maneuver to distribute profits.
In the current tax reform, the CBS (Social Contribution of Goods and Services) will not be charged for companies that do not carry out economic activities. This is the case of entities that carry out social assistance and education services, churches and religious temples in general. The text therefore assumes that there is no economic activity on the part of any church, even though the Federal Revenue has found evidence that yes in its inspection.
What this article covers:
What does the law approved in the House say about IPTU exemption for religious temples?
Temples and churches do not pay IPTU (Urban Property and Territorial Tax), since they are religious centers. The Union, states, or municipalities cannot also charge taxes on tithes or any other contributions made by believers.
Source/Playback: original
Tax Immunity: Why don’t churches pay taxes in Brazil?
The main idea that prevents taxing churches is that tax collection could prevent the faithful from exercising their right to religious freedom. Immunity is also defended by non-religious tax and constitutionalists.
Those who are against the idea bet on the argument that many religious centers, especially churches, function as companies and deviate from the constitutional purpose of immunity.
How much does the state fail to collect with tax exemption for religious entities?
Without charging taxes from the churches, the debt already reaches R$ 1.9 billion in the DAU (Union Active Debt). R$ 4 million of this debt is due to the fact that some churches deducted from their employees’ remuneration without transferring it to the INSS. Failure to declare income tax is a crime provided for in the Penal Code and is punishable by two to five years of imprisonment and a fine.
