City Harvest Church (CHC) has been questioned by the
Commissioner of Charities over its $310 million purchase of a stake
in Suntec Singapore which it announced two weeks ago, the Straits
Times reported today.
The Church said earlier that it would use two floors in
Suntec to house a 12,000-seat auditorium for worship services and
that it would be used exclusively for its services, except for
about five times a year to allow for international conferences or
events to be held there.
The stake raised some eyebrows among Singaporeans who questioned
if registered charities should be allowed to go into business and
if the income collected by CHC through its Suntec rentals would be
taxed.
An irate Singaporean Lester Lam wrote to the Straits Times Forum
on 11 March 2010 questioning the relevance of giving religious
organisations tax-exempt status when many of them own commercial
properties and derive rental income from them.
“Should the Government continue to let religious
organisations own commercial properties and earn income from rent?
After all, the revenue these organisations use for the purchase is
tax-exempt in the first place. Suntec City was developed for
commercial purposes. With the church’s purchase of the development
and its proposal to convert a section of the exhibition space for
church use, is it in breach of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s
land-use policy?” he asked.
A letter jointly issued by the Ministry of Community
Development, Youth and Sports, the Urban Redevelopment Authority
(URA) and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore explained
that “incomes earned by charities are tax-exempt because their main
purpose is to provide public benefits through their
activities.”
There are no laws against charities being involved in business
activities except that they “must be done in the best interest of
the charity and not subject the charity’s assets and resources to
unacceptable risk.”
The Straits Times article did not reveal the exact questions
asked by the Commissioner of Charities to CHC. Its Senior Pastor,
Kong Hee could not be reached for comments.
Source TR 20 March 2010
