I REFER to the letters about commercial investments by mega
churches and last Saturday's letter, 'Drawing the line on
commercial deals', by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth
and Sports; Urban Redevelopment Authority; and Inland Revenue
Authority of Singapore.
As an auditor of several charitable groups, I wonder if
significant involvement in commercial activities by mega churches,
through investments in properties, still qualify the churches as
charities under the Charities Act and their Constitutions.
According to the Charities Act, the purposes/objects of the
charities must be exclusively charitable, which, in the case of
religious groups, is the promotion of their respective
religions.
The authorities, including the Registrar of Societies and
Commissioner of Charities, should look into statutory compliance
and evaluate if such religious groups still qualify as
charities.
New Creation Church and City Harvest Church are registered as
charities but not Institutions of a Public Character. This means
that donations to these churches are not tax exempt, so donors do
not enjoy tax deductions of 2.5 times.
Nevertheless, I am impressed by the ability of these churches to
obtain significant donation income, which is a feat few
organisations can match.
Tan Saw Bin (Ms)
