Protestants demand deferral; Gov't says absolutely not



By Park Hyong-ki



Religious organizations, particularly members of Protestant churches, are having a fit again over the planned taxation of religious figures and organizations.



With about 50 days before the government's legal authority to impose taxes on them, some Christian sects are asking for more time to prepare, and are demanding the government postpone the taxation again by one or two years.



This is because neither the government nor the religious organizations are fully ready to execute and abide by the new income tax code, which the church leaders said has been drawn up unreasonably.



The Christian task force handling this affair also asked the government to exclude the religious group from regulatory audits by the National Tax Service (NTS).



It continued to argue that being excluded does not mean giving it the "benefit or privilege, but recognition" that churches, temples and other nonprofit religious organizations operate entirely differently from private companies.



"There seems to be a misunderstanding that priests do not want to pay taxes. They do. What we are trying to do is clear up this misunderstanding and help come up with a reasonable law," said Jeong Seo-yeong, president of the Communion of Churches in Korea (CCIK).



The task force suggested running tests or a simulation by imposing taxes on a selected few groups before the nationwide taxation to minimize side effects and confusion.



However, the finance ministry remains adamant that it will execute the tax code and start collecting income tax from them beginning January 1, 2018 as planned.



Until then, it will continue to listen to them closely and mend any problems they point out in the course of debates and discussions.



"We will try to come up with a better measure based on the opinions from the religious group," Vice Finance Minister Ko Hyoung-kwon said in a recent meeting with religious figures.



But he told reporters it would be impossible to accept their demand for taxation deferral and audit exclusion as such an act would be viewed as giving them preferential treatment.



The government will not punish them if they mistakenly forget to file their income taxes due to confusion over the new tax code.



Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon told lawmakers early this month that it is preparing for the taxation as best as it can, and that any necessary changes to the code would have to be done as quickly as possible instead of considering another deferral.



This means the government has put its foot down, and this time it will start collecting income taxes from the religious organizations next year without more delays.



Some religious sects, including the National Council of Churches and the Catholic Church, have been paying taxes, saying that they are not only obligated to serve God, but also the country under the Korean Constitution.



The issue of taxation first came up in 1968 when then NTS chief Lee Nak-sun officially said the country needed to start collecting income taxes from priests and monks.



But succeeding governments continued to hold off on this especially ahead of or during the election season, even despite being the only economy in the OECD to not levy taxes on the clergy.



The issue has gained attention as Korea is becoming a rapidly aging society, while facing a shortage of capital resources to finance its growing social costs.



