Text file: 6552.txt
author: Matej16
downvotes: 5
end consideration date: 2015-03-18
id: '6552'
number comments: 10
number views: 2628
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: "Response from the Ministry of Finance\nThe taxation of church income is\
  \ comprehensively regulated by the Law on Corporate Income Tax, which provides for\
  \ equal tax treatment of income of all non-profit legal entities, including churches\
  \ or religious communities (as well as associations, foundations, institutions,\
  \ political parties). Thus, income from non-profit activities (donations, membership\
  \ fees, bequests, inheritances, public service funds from public sources and earmarked\
  \ public funds) is exempt from tax, while income from profit activities (user surcharges\
  \ for services, interest, dividends, income from the sale of goods and services,\
  \ rents, income from the disposal of fixed assets, etc.) is subject to tax. The\
  \ church or religious communities are also obliged to submit tax returns to the\
  \ tax authorities.  The taxation of the activities of religious organisations is\
  \ also regulated by the Law on Value Added Tax, whereby religious communities are\
  \ explicitly exempted from VAT in respect of the following activities:\n the provision\
  \ of staff by religious communities to meet spiritual needs; services provided by\
  \ non-profit organisations with religious objectives to their members in return\
  \ for membership fees; and the supply of goods directly related to these services,\
  \ but only if such exemption does not lead to distortions of competition.\nServices\
  \ provided by non-profit organisations include the activities of religious and similar\
  \ organisations or individuals providing services to worshippers in churches, mosques,\
  \ temples, synagogues and other places, the activities of monasteries and similar\
  \ religious institutions, and religious services at funerals.\nDepending on the\
  \ type of activities they engage in, religious communities may also claim other\
  \ exemptions which are not linked to the religious nature of the activities (humanitarian,\
  \ social, educational, etc.).\nAmounts paid by taxable persons to persons established\
  \ for the purpose of carrying out religious activities (which also applies to persons\
  \ established for the purpose of carrying out humanitarian, cultural, scientific,\
  \ social, educational, sporting or trade union activities) and which are not payments\
  \ for the supply of goods or services are not subject to VAT.\nActivities which\
  \ are exempt from VAT or activities which are outside the VAT system are not eligible\
  \ for input tax deduction by a religious community.\nThe solutions for religious\
  \ communities under the VAT system are based on the binding solutions of the European\
  \ VAT Directive and cannot be amended in this respect.\nMasses, funerals, communions,\
  \ confessions, etc. may be voluntary contributions (donations) which are not subject\
  \ to VAT, and therefore VAT does not have to be charged on these voluntary contributions.\
  \ However, to the extent that a religious community carries out an economic activity\
  \ in return for payment, these services are subject to VAT. If they charge for these\
  \ activities in the context of carrying out the activities of a religious organisation,\
  \ or if they carry out other activities which are exempt from VAT under the VAT\
  \ Act (humanitarian, social, educational activities), they are not required to charge\
  \ VAT on these services and are not required to identify themselves for VAT purposes\
  \ under the VAT Act (provided that they only carry out exempt activities in relation\
  \ to which the VAT Act does not recognise a right to deduct VAT).\nIn view of the\
  \ above, the taxation of church income is already comprehensively regulated and\
  \ the income of all non-profit legal entities is treated in the same way, while\
  \ tax is payable on profit-making activities. As regards the VAT treatment of certain\
  \ activities, such as services, funerals, communion, confessions, etc., the initiative\
  \ cannot be supported as these are activities of religious organisations which are\
  \ exempt from VAT. Moreover, the VAT treatment of these activities would constitute\
  \ a derogation from the rules of the European VAT Directive, which is binding on\
  \ Slovenia in this respect.\n \nResponse from the Ministry of Culture\nThe Ministry\
  \ of Culture, on the basis of Article 32a ZDU-1, performs tasks in the field of\
  \ religious freedom. The area of religious freedom is defined in more detail as\
  \ the field of work of the Ministry of Culture by a sectoral law, i.e. Article 30\
  \ of the Religious Freedom Act (Official Journal of the Republic of Slovenia, No.\
  \ 14/07, 46/10 - Decree of the European Court of Justice, 40/12 - ZUJF and 100/13;\
  \ hereinafter: the \"RFA\").\nAccording to Article 7(1) of the ZVS, a church or\
  \ other religious community is a voluntary, non-profit-making association of natural\
  \ persons of the same religion, which is established for the purpose of public and\
  \ private practice of that religion and has its own structure, organs and autonomous\
  \ internal rules, its own worship or other religious ritual and practice of religion.\n\
  The FC considers that the legal form of organisation of the religious community,\
  \ in the absence of an explicit legal authorisation to engage in profit-making activities\
  \ or limited profit-making activities in the ZVS, does not allow the direct exercise\
  \ of profit-making activities in the legal form of organisation of the religious\
  \ community and thus the marketing of the religious services or activities of the\
  \ religious communities mentioned above, such as masses, funerals, ..... Registered\
  \ churches and other religious communities, including the Catholic Church mentioned\
  \ in the proposal, are financed in accordance with Article 29 of the ZVS from donations\
  \ and other contributions from natural and legal persons, also in the case of the\
  \ above-mentioned activities of religious communities - religious services. The\
  \ fundamental characteristic of these donations and contributions is that they are\
  \ voluntary and, unlike commercial (contractual) obligations, they are not enforceable\
  \ in court.\n "
response date: 2015-04-07
response due date: null
sent date: 2015-02-17
title: Taxation of the activities of religious communities and assimilation with other
  activities
upvotes: 36
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/6552
