Spiritual groups that contribute to the common good should be tax-exempt. This is obvious in Poland and democratic countries in general but was not immediately acknowledged in the Tai Ji Men case.
by Karolina Maria Kotkowska
Religious care for the common good is emphasized in most religious and spiritual movements. While it is sometimes controversial what exactly “common good” means, and how common it should be, the general idea is not exotic. Freedom of belief is one of the basic human rights and is also recognized in legal systems (at least to some extent) in almost all countries. A religiously understood common good, and the contribution to society of churches and spiritual groups, have become the basis for many solutions that offers frameworks for the legal functioning of various religious groups in society.
Of course, the basic guarantee of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion or belief is the possibility of realizing these liberties, i.e., professing a religion and participating in its rituals. This implies the possibility of registering the religion as a legal entity—as a church or a religious or spiritual group. But another guarantee, and one that puts special emphasis on the common good that comes from these groups, is to give them various forms of tax relief and exemptions.
In my country, Poland, the issue of freedom of conscience and religion was important not only practically but also symbolically. After World War II, the country fell under the rule of a USSR-aligned Communist Party. The ideological climate was strongly anti-religious, promoting philosophical materialism, and prohibiting manifestations of religious worship. In 1989, several significant changes took place in Eastern Europe. In Poland, in April 1989, a “round table” meeting took place, which ended with an agreement on the fundamental issues for the country. In November, the Berlin Wall fell in Germany, and finally, at the end of 1991, the collapse of the USSR followed and a certain political and cultural era for the entire region came to an end.
Already on May 17, 1989, on the wave of regaining independence and freedom, the Act on Guarantees of Freedom of Conscience and Religion was adopted in Poland. This act not only legalized various religions, but also supported the churches, recognizing their importance and contribution to the common good. This was (and still is) expressed by various tax exemptions and reliefs.
This Act states that legal entities of churches and other religious associations are exempt from taxation in respect of income from their non-economic activities. Income from business activity is exempt from taxation in the part in which it is allocated for the following purposes:
worship-related,
educational and upbringing,
scientific,
cultural,
charity and care activities,
catechesis,
conservation of monuments,
sacral and church investments,
renovation of religious and care facilities.
People who make donations for the above purposes (religious, educational, scientific, cultural, charitable, and protective, as well as for the conservation of monuments, running catechetical activities, and religious investments in the fields of construction, expansion and reconstruction of churches and chapels) also benefit from tax exemption. Donations intended for the adaptation of other buildings for religious purposes, as well as other investments intended for catechetical centers and charity and care facilities are exempt from taxation (Corporate Income Tax Act, art. 17).
Of course, it should be noted that although Polish law in this area is satisfactory, the practice differs from expectations. Tax exemptions are not readily granted. Over the last three decades the number of new registered churches has been small and constantly decreasing, and the number of refusals to register is increasing. This, of course, has a consequence related to the unequal treatment of religion—large churches function differently, where there are also abuses in matters of the mentioned reliefs, and new religious movements are marginalized, so that they often choose the path of legalizing their activities not as churches, but as associations. But there are some side notes in the context of our topic.
It seems that the relationship between taxes and the recognition of activity as positive and necessary— or the contrary—is crucial to their use in state policy. Apart from many positive examples, we have recently observed a number of instances of using taxes to fight religions. Governments of countries that consider certain religions to be inconsistent with the desired ideology can fight them through taxation—imposing higher taxes on them in the form of penalties, thus discouraging them from operating in a given area or significantly limiting or even making their activity impossible. An example here is Russia’s fight against new religious movements, which takes place in various ways, but also through unjust taxation. Sometimes this is just one of the steps of the anti-cult campaigns leading to further actions, like the liquidation of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia.
The examples presented constitute a certain continuum—in very different cases, the relationship between recognizing the usefulness of religion in general or of specific religious movements for the state has its tax consequences. In the first case, it is a positive vision of religion and the recognition of activities for the common good, which results in tax exemptions, while in the second case, it is the use of taxation as a form of oppression.
The third example, however, completely escapes this opposition between religion or spirituality being useful or useless for the country. This is the case of Tai Ji Men and the taxes unfairly imposed on them.
In this case, taxes were imposed, which is consistent with the second example, in the context of treating the group as some kind of political opponent. Mechanisms resulting from the period of authoritarian politics in Taiwan were used. Members of the group were harassed, and used violence against, and their functioning was hindered in many ways, using such absurd reasons for these accusations as “raising goblins.” One of the allegations was that the content of the “red envelopes” given by disciples to their Master, which are a traditional element of the master-disciple relationship in this context, should not be considered as gifts but as tuition fees for a (non-existing) “cram school.”
However, what distinguishes this example from the previous ones is what happened next. Tai Ji Men was found completely innocent of all charges, including tax evasion. Moreover, the group does not pose any political threat to the power of the current democratic state. Also, the contribution to common good, and not only of Taiwanese society, but with a global outreach to humanity as a whole of Tai Ji Men is already well-known and widely acknowledged. The only “sin” of Tai Ji Men dizi (disciples) is that they encountered an irrational and conscienceless bureaucratic machine. We are on a panel devoted to this group where other speakers will further discuss what happened.
In Poland, the law states that the legal persons of churches and other religious associations are exempt from taxation of income from their non-economic activities and, in this respect, these persons are not obliged to keep documentation required by tax regulations. This means that when, for example, in a Catholic church, money is collected in a basket during the Mass, even “for an offering” (i.e., for church activities or special purposes announced during the meeting), no taxes are paid on it. In this sense, money transferred to a priest or spiritual master in a manner considered traditional is not taxable for either party, and is not subject to tax records. In Poland, and in most democratic countries, such accusations as those presented to Tai Ji Men over two decades ago would be untenable. It is high time for the absurdity of the charges to be acknowledged and for the contribution of Tai Ji Men to the common good of Taiwanese society and the international community to be recognized by Taiwan’s authorities.
Karolina Maria Kotkowska is an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilizations, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. She holds PhD in Philosophy and works on her PhD in Sociology. She specializes in New Religious Movements and Western Esotericism in Central and Eastern Europe.
