I know an accountant or Tax person could advise, but am enthusiastic by the knowledge of oz barginer's, and was wandering….
How does tithing affect a tax return? I pay approx 10% of income voluntarily. The church has an ABN and i recieve the reciepts. TIA.
How does a voluntary contribution (church tithing) affect EOFY tax claim?
Keen Bargain Hunter on 04/01/2017 - 22:00
Comments
This is correct. If the church is a DGR donations are a tax deduction.
Generally churches aren't DGR however some churches have separate charity funds with different ABN that are DGR and donations to it are tax deductible. For example your local Anglican parish might accept donations / tithing to run its ministry, and that's not tax deductible. However donations to Anglicare for their charity work would be tax deductible.
Even for building funds, they have to be used mostly for school in order to be registered as DGR.
What Church?
Some churches are set up to allow donations to be deductible.
You should get a statement of donations and it should tell you if its deductible.
Hillsong?
Separate Church and State, Tax the Churches!
Would you apply that same logic to every other charity?
I am not a fan of "charity" organisations per se, too many people being paid for "charity" work, and where people make personal profit, they should be taxed. For me it's about due diligence like every other monetary outlay. If i want to assuage my conscious without actually doing anything, I would give to MissionBeat or Red Cross, places that do what I deem to be good works with the funds they receive.
Great - I think you will find that EVERYONE gives to the causes they feel do good works with the money they receive (or at least they HOPE so).
People who are paid for charity work ARE taxed. Its called personal income tax.
And I agree with you that for-profit businesses that happen to be run by Churches should be taxed.
However, for some it is very difficult to seperate the business arm with the charitable arm.
For example, should the Salvation Army be taxed because it is also a Church?
Should World Vision be taxed because it is a mission arm of Christianity?
Should the Vinnies Op-shops pay taxes before they distribute their 'profits' to the Church?@blaircam: I take offence to people asking me to donate my money when they cannot even donate their time. I have done a lot of charity work, whilst unemployed I worked weekdays for a year cooking for a charity kitchen. Not once did I even consider I needed payment for it.
Tithings are not deductible.
Mine are
Tithings or donations for the building fund? Which church?
Churches are not DGR's (Deductible Gift Recipients) so you can't claim a tax deduction. Generally churches are seen as more of an offering. The only exception to this is if they have building funds for the church and you give to this, that would count as a deduction.
However, if your church is a DGR and you are giving to that particular fund, then you can claim the deduction. Search the ABN here and tick the DGR box to check.