JW won over France regarding taxation.
by InquiryMan 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Anony Mous
Well, it's a phyrric victory really, they didn't get their 250,000 EUR in damages nor did they get France to stop collecting taxes. They just stopped them from collecting back taxes which means that they can continue collecting taxes since they're considered a business. They just don't get to collect on the time before when they erroneously didn't collect.
Off course the JW Media spin is great on this: " The European Court of Human Rights ruled today that the government of France must pay over 4.5 million euros ($5,600,000 US approx.) for full restitution to Jehovah’s Witnesses for violating their religious freedom through illegal taxation."
No, the ECHR ruled that the government of France must RETURN the 4.5M EUR they already collected from the JW's and not because it's illegal for the JW's to be taxed but because it's not entirely fair to collect retroactive taxes when you didn't make any effort to collect at first.
EDIT: I uploaded the ECHR decision in PDF:
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Billy the Ex-Bethelite
France can just make that check out to Candice Conti.
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InterestedOne
Thank you Anony Mous for clarifying. That JW spin is really misleading.
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Anony Mous
The ECHR did have some tough words for the JW's though (roughly translated):
The applicant can not require a special tax status under the guise of freedom of religion
As for costs and expenses incurred during the proceedings before it, the Court has no doubt of their necessity and recognizes the great amount of work done on behalf of the applicant. However, it finds excessive fees claimed. In particular, the number of hours is not specified and the requested hourly rate of EUR 250 goes beyond what she is willing to consider a reasonable quote. Moreover, the Court agrees with the Government that the legal assistance of British and German lawyers did not correspond to a need. Given the foregoing, it therefore considers that there should be only partially reimburse the costs.
From what I understand (IANAL), they did not say that France did not have the right to collect taxes, it just finds that because the tax was suddenly applied and never before did so, they can't collect EUR 4.5M in late fees. It actually tells France has the right to collect the taxes and the JW's can't hide behind freedom of religion.
From what I read, France can tax the JW's but it just has to rewrite it's tax laws to make clear the current classification of their associations would include the type of association the JW's are (which they are classified with unions and companies for religious purposes). So it can't collect back taxes because it's laws are vague.
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diamondiiz
Quote from OP site
"The Association of Jehovah's Witnesses claimed the French government was trying to repress their activities by imposing in 1998 a tax assessment that amounted in total to 45 million euros ($56 million), covering the period from 1993 to 1996, though France seized only a fraction of that amount."
So did France seize only 4.5m Euros which they are to return (which means they have to return all they seized) or did they seize more but are to return only 4.5m????
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TheOldHippie
"it's not entirely fair to collect retroactive taxes when you didn't make any effort to collect at first."
No, definitely not ENTIRELY fair. And what also is definitely not ENTIRELY fair is to single out ONE religious group and try to tax that one ALONE, as the French government tried to in this case.
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Open mind
I love it when TheOldHippie makes an appearance.
Balance is a good thing.
om
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WTWizard
Tax them all. Tax them all to death.
Religions like this make their money threatening people with death or hell, guilting them into "If you love Jehovah or Jesus, you will donate to the point where it hurts". Then they spend that money on missionaries that spread their rubbish into Nigeria, India, and Central America. All to gain psychic energy from the whole world--every time you go to church and participate (Kingdumb Hells work just as well), it contributes to the vortex of psychic energy the right-hand path religions use to enslave us all. Cat Lick, Protestant, cult--makes no difference. They all need to be taxed at 100%, with strict audits to make sure they are not hiding money.
And, while they are at it, I think Italy should tax the Vatican at 100%. Bring them down--they, along with all their Cat Lick and United Council of Churches, are responsible for much of the misery we see today. They have to go.
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AnnOMaly
http://www.jw-media.org/fra/20120705.htm
For Immediate Release
July 5, 2012France ordered to pay millions for illegal taxation of Jehovah’s Witnesses
STRASBOURG, France—The European Court of Human Rights ruled today that the government of France must pay over 4.5 million euros ($5,600,000 US approx.) for full restitution to Jehovah’s Witnesses for violating their religious freedom through illegal taxation.
Last year, on June 30, 2011, the European Court ruled that the government of France violated the rights of Jehovah’s Witnesses when it attempted to impose a retroactive 60 percent tax on all religious donations made by Jehovah’s Witnesses in France between 1993 and 1996. The Court invited the parties to resolve the matter amicably, but because the government maintained that the excessive taxation was not illegal, a friendly settlement was impossible.
In today’s decision, the government was ordered to remove “all consequences” of the tax. In addition to returning the 4,590,295 euros ($5,749,439.50 US approx.) that were confiscated at the time that the taxation was imposed, plus interest, the government is to pay the Witnesses 55,000 euros ($68,888.64 US approx.) for legal costs and expenses. It is expected that full restitution will also include removing all liens or mortgages from the facilities owned and used by the Witnesses in Louviers.
André Carbonneau, one of the attorneys for the Witnesses who worked on this case, stated: “It is hoped that this decision will encourage the French government to proceed with more restraint and caution in the future before using legal mechanisms such as taxation to restrict the religious freedom of its citizens.”
J. R. Brown, a spokesman for the Witnesses at their world headquarters in New York, commented: “Clearly, these efforts by the government of France to financially stop our Bible education work in France did not succeed. We rejoice over this development, along with our fellow believers and other citizens of France who appreciate their right to accept or reject our Christian message.”
Related Links:
News Release: “European Court of Human Rights vindicates Jehovah’s Witnesses in France”
News Release: “Witnesses’ legal victory in France now final and enforceable”
Video: Commentary by Bruno Faure
Video: Commentary by Philip BrumleyMedia Contacts:
J. R. Brown, Office of Public Information, tel. +1 718 560 5000
France: Guy Canonici, tel. +33 2 32 25 55 55Last updated 05 July 2012 17:31:41 GMT
Copyright © 2012 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved.