Ten Churches Owe R$382 Million in Federal Taxes, According to National Treasury

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The ten largest defaulted debtors with the federal government having religious activities, owe R$ 382.3 (US$72) million to the public coffers. The majority of debts owed by religious organizations are linked to social security contributions – a tax from which they are now permanently exempt after the sanction of Law 14.057, published in the Federal Gazette on Monday, September 14th.

The list of debtors is available on the National Treasury Attorney’s Office (PGFN) website, linked to the Ministry of Economy. The largest debtor among the active religious institutions is the Association of Families for Unification and World Peace Brazil, linked to the Unification Church of the South Korean Reverend Sun Myung-Moon, who died in 2012. The Christian association owes R$99.2 million in federal taxes.

Second on the list is the World Church of God’s Power, founded in 1998 by “apostle” Valdomiro Santiago. The church’s National Tax Register is tied to R$91.4 million in tax debts, and R$55.5 million of this total relates to pending social security contributions.

Santiago’s church is also listed as a debtor in other obligations as a company: the Mundial owes R$5.9 million in uncollected FGTS (Severance Indemnity Fund), R$4.2 million in unpaid labor fines, and R$25.7 million in unspecified tax debts.

The top ten debtors in default for federal taxes include the International Church of God’s Grace (R$37.8 million), Association Victory in Christ (R$35.9 million), Church Reborn in Christ (R$33.4 million), Brazilian Islamic Center (R$32.7 million), Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Rosary and Saint Benedict of Black Men (R$18 million), Monastery of Saint Benedict of Bahia (R$13.4 million) and Church of Lagoinha (R$10.1 million). The Islamic Center is the only non-Christian organization among the 100 largest religious debtors.

The total debt of religious activities to the National Treasury amounts to R$1.5 billion – although more than 8,800 legal entities are listed, only 39 owe more than R$1 million. The list also includes activities developed by these religions, such as educational services, book publishing and hospital management.

In this amount, there are debts from organizations that no longer operate – such as the Evangelical General Institute, the largest debtor on the list, with R$523 million in debt, and Action and Distribution, a front company dismantled in 2012 by the Federal Police and which today has R$385 million in debt.

The debts of religious organizations, mostly comprising unpaid social security contributions, are prior to 2015. That year, a law allowed religious organizations not to pay taxes on the salaries of ministers, pastors and priests.

Yesterday, President Jair Bolsonaro vetoed that part of the law that would pardon debts related to the Social Contribution on Net Profits (CSLL), but left untouched excluding religious entities from paying social security taxes. Law 14.057, passed yesterday, also revokes any prior fines or penalties imposed by the Federal Treasury on such violations.

Source: Congresso em Foco