ARMENIAN CHURCH IN TAX RELIEF CONTROVERSY
By Gayane Lazarian
Institute for War & Peace Reporting IWPR
Nov 18 2011
UK
Main national church says tax exemption will be no loss to government,
while minority faiths want the same privileges.
A proposal to exempt the Armenian national church from land and
property tax has worried many opposition politicians and angered
members of other faith groups, who say it discriminates against them.
A bill currently before parliament would grant a series of tax
exemptions to the ancient Armenian Apostolic Church. The law was
approved in a first reading in October, signalling broad approval for
the plan, which its supporters say would free up more of the church’s
resources for charitable work among the poor.
Armenians are the world’s oldest Christian nation, and there are
Armenian Apostolic churches all across the country.
Opponents of the bill point out that the church’s assets include
residential properties, a cinema, a shop, a park, an artificial lake,
a football stadium and more. They are asking why such a large landowner
should be freed from tax obligations.
“When the law is passed, the church [as a non-taxpayer] will not be
a participant in Armenia’s economic development,” Artsvik Minasyan,
a member of parliament from the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party, said.
“Yet surely the state’s principal obligation is to involve the church
as much as possible in the process of economic growth.”
Vardan Bostanjyan of the Prosperous Armenia party fears that
the exemption will starve already impoverished local government
institutions of revenue.
Church representatives said the proposed law would bring the state’s
legislation into line with that of many other countries, including
Muslim ones, where the Armenian church is exempt from taxes.
They point out that during the 70 years of Soviet rule, the church
lost much of its property and has still not managed to regain its
former prosperity.
Bishop Arshak Khachatryan, chancellor of the Echmiadzin Holy See, the
seat of the Catholicos of All Armenians, said the institution’s assets
included 140 new churches built since the country became independent
1991, plus associated properties fulfilling essential functions.
“There are free cafeterias for the poor in these places, children’s
centres, residential houses… used by priests, and also Lake
Nersisyan, which lies within the territory of the Mother See of
Echmiadzin,” he said.
Bishop Khachatryan said the taxes paid on these properties were
miniscule, so government would not suffer from their loss.
“The Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator [Echmiadzin’s cathedral]
pays annual property taxes of 60,000 drams [155 US dollars],” he said.
“On average, churches… pay property taxes in the region of 20,000
drams plus land tax.”
Some of those criticising the bill acknowledge that the sums involve
make tax exemption largely symbolic, but warn that it could set a
precedent that other faith groups might want to follow.
Minasyan said that awarding special privileges to the Armenian
Apostolic Church could mean “forgetting that the constitution and
our international obligations also requires us to ensure the rights
of other religious organisations”.
Bishop Khachatryan rejected that argument, pointing out that many
western states had an established church, but also upheld the freedom
of other religious communities.
Religious minorities in Armenia are against granting an exemption
to the Apostolic Church. The Armenian Evangelical Baptist Christian
Church, a Protestant group, and the Armenian Catholic Church, which
is in communion with the Vatican, have both demanded that the law be
expanded to cover them, too.
“Why does there need to be discrimination?” Father Grigor Lazarian,
a Catholic priest in Gyumri, asked. “That means the rights of Catholic
worshippers, of whom we have around 150,000, are not respected. We
spend 1.9 million euro on charitable activities every year, but we
still have to pay tax and duties.”
Father Grigor asked, “How are government officials going to explain why
a restaurant complex built within the grounds of the [Apostolic Church]
Kecharis Monastery is to be freed from paying taxes, whereas the
children’s refuge in the Poghosyan educational institution belonging
to the Catholic Church, which performs the state’s job of helping
orphans and children from poor families in Gyumri, has to pay tax?”
Bishop Khachatryan said parliament had been presented with a list of
specific properties that would not pay tax, and the restaurant near
the Kecharis monastery would not be among them. The list could be
amended further, he added.
“The church does not own villas. It has decrepit old houses where
priests live. The church has no business concerns,” he said.
He said the church currently spent one-third of its funds on
educational work, and the more tax it had to pay, less money it had
for charity programmes.
Gayane Lazarian is a reporter for Armenianow.com
http://iwpr.net/report-news/armenian-church-tax-relief-controversy