Ministers of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa have told the court through their lawyer they cannot be taxed because they are not taxpayers.
According to Samoa Observer, lead counsel for the ministers, Alex Su’a, told the District Court, at the start of the formal hearing of tax charges against the 20 ordained ministers, that it is the contention of his clients that they are not taxpayers and therefore should not be paying taxes.
Each minister faces two charges of failure to withhold taxes and failure to file tax returns.
The Commissioner of Inland Revenue Matafeo Avalisa Viali-Fautuaali’i was the first witness called by the prosecution.
She explained the reasons behind the government move to tax church ministers which centered around the need to increase government revenues to pay for infrastructure and other government developments.
She said part of amendments introduced under the new tax laws was to tax the voluntary ‘alofas’ church members give the ministers for their upkeep while serving within the congregations.
“Out of all the churches, it was only the CCCS church that did not accept the proposed change in the law,” she said.
According to the Inland Revenue Commissioner, it was the contention of government monies the ministers receive from church members is taxable.
She said that church ministers are providing a service to church members and therefore they should be taxed on monies they receive from members.
Matafeo told the court that while monies donated by church members is voluntary, “once it’s received by the church minister, it is income.”
