Is the catholic church liable for property tax?

S

sustanon

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just wondering if the parochial houses are liable for property taxes? comments? thoughts?
 
I can accept a half-way house, or an old folks home, or even a priest or nun's old age retirement home. I'm asking about the healthy priest living in your community with the nice car, and the free golf.... that guy.
 
If they own their own residence, yes. If they merely occupy as a tenant, rent-free or otherwise, then no. The same principles would also apply to clergy of other faiths.
 
What about the Shinners?
All those underground bunkers they have around the country, do they quality as abodes?
 
sustanon said:
I can accept a half-way house, or an old folks home, or even a priest or nun's old age retirement home. I'm asking about the healthy priest living in your community with the nice car, and the free golf.... that guy.
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I don't know him.
 
Purple said:
I don't know him.
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I dont know the one in my community personally but did have dealings with him last time I had to bury someone.

He is nice. Camp. Well dressed. Lovely sunglasses. Plays golf, drives a nice shiny car. Cycles a bike too. Partial to ginger nut biscuits apparently but tries to fight the urge.
 
Does he wear a black suit?
I don’t see why a priest shouldn’t have nice sunglasses or have a clean car.
The one thing you can be sure of is that he is paid less than most people who work for charities.
If an employee of a different charity was well paid, well dressed and drove a nice car should that charity also not be exempt from property tax?
 
Purple said:
The one thing you can be sure of is that he is paid less than most people who work for charities.
?
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But in addition to the stipend given to them by the Church they get cash 'gifts' for weddings funerals etc and the even more lucrative inheritences that many people leave the Church in their wills. People literly buying their way to heaven.
 
Bronte said:
But in addition to the stipend given to them by the Church they get cash 'gifts' for weddings funerals etc and the even more lucrative inheritences that many people leave the Church in their wills. People literly buying their way to heaven.
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Mass stipends are not gifts, they are income for services provided. As with all other income, they are declarable and fully taxable. For this reason, priests are subject to self-assessment taxation and must file annual Form 11 tax returns. The same applies to musicians and others who are remunerated for supply services at weddings and funerals.

When someone leaves an inheritance to the Church, it is payable to the Church, not to an individual priest.

The concept of charity bequests is not confined to religion, nor any particular Church. It is rather insulting to describe this as "people buying their way to heaven".
 
One of the most usual bequests is worded along the lines of - " I bequeath the sum of €- - to the parish priest for the time being of - parish to enable masses to be said for the repose of my soul at a stipend of € - per mass " either that or the bequest is to be used for the maintenance of the parish , in either event the bequest is paid to the appropriate parish priest.
 

Whatever about the first example "to enable Masses to be said" (which is open to interpretation, one of which interpretations would entail an immediate income tax, prsi & usc liability for the recipient, and a possible negligence suit for any solicitor who helped draft the will), it makes little sense to suggest that a bequest "to be used for the maintenance of the parish" could somehow (except by fraud) become payable to an individual parish priest for their own benefit?
 

Any solicitor charged with carrying out the wishes of the testator/testatrixin the cases I have outlined in my post is merely carrying out the wishes as detailed in the deceased's Will - it is primarily up to the legatee to account for any tax , whether of an income or capital nature - on reflection the only tax that might apply is Capital Acquisition Tax as any such bequest is of a capital nature rather than paid from any post death accrued income.

In both instances whether the legacy is for masses or maintenance purposes it is paid directly to the parish priest ( FTB )
 
Indeed, but it would be clearly negligent for a solicitor to draft or stand over the wording of a will in such a careless manner that the individual in receip of the proceeds could simply pocket the entirety in exchange for an unenforceable commitment to provide services into the future.

Deiseblue said:
In both instances whether the legacy is for masses or maintenance purposes it is paid directly to the parish priest ( FTB )
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But merely in their capacity as trustee or administrator of the parish, not for their personal benefit. The same applies to any administrator with fiduciary duties.
 
Pecuniary bequests for masses to be said for the deceased have historically featured in many Irish Wills , a practise that continues.

I have never known a Solicitor object to such bequests , the only time I know of where a difficulty arose was when a Parish Priest averred that the stipend nominated was too low as the deceased had written the Will years previously - if memory serves me right I believe the stipend was £ 1 per mass & the legacy totalled £ 1,000 - the poor man would have been saying masses forever !

A compromise figure was agreed upon - again if memory serves me right the church in general had encountered this problem on many previous occasions & had agreed a compromise figure with the State.

I do agree that such bequests were generally used for the upkeep of the Parish but that generally included the PP's upkeep , something that I think few people would have a problem with.
 
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