Destiny Church protest reignites debate on tax-exempt status for charities - The Front Page

Brian Tamaki (inset) has bragged he ordered his followers to storm the Te Atatū library.

The tax-exempt status of churches and charities is a topic that’s been debated for hundreds of years.

And it’s back in the public’s consciousness this week after a protest by Destiny Church members at a rainbow family event sparked backlash over the church’s charitable status.

When asked about this Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said there is a “broader question at play which we’ve said that we would look at in due course around the register, charities and their charitable status and therefore the tax treatment as a consequence and will form part of that broader piece of work”.

Some of the foundations of our charities law date back to England’s Charitable Uses Act 1601. If you say you’re tackling poverty, advancing education or religion, or beneficial to the community in any way, you could sign up to the charities register.

There are more than 28,000 registered charities – with an annual income of more than $21 billion – on top of over 110,000 not-for-profit organisations.

In 2019, the independent Tax Working Group made recommendations to improve the fairness, balance, and structure of New Zealand’s tax system.

One of the issues it highlighted that required “further work” was charities and non-profit organisations.

One of its independent advisers, Andrea Black told The Front Page the real issue with charities, religion, and the tax system is the donation tax credit.

At the moment, for every dollar you donate, you get 33.33 cents back as a tax credit, paid for by the Government.

“This is effectively a spending decision, and all other spending decisions go through Parliament. If [Government] wants to give money to Surf Lifesaving, that forms part of the budget the Finance Minister brings to Parliament every year, and Parliament gets to scrutinise it.

“The only issue I have is that any support given donations tax credit is completely non-transparent.

“We’ve got no real idea how much it is and it’s open-ended because anyone who decides to make that donation gets the benefit, irrespective of how much the Government wants to spend... It’s the individual that decides where to allocate Government taxpayer money,” she said.

Listen to the full episode to hear more about how the charities register works and what could be changed.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.