Should churches pay taxes?

A church tax would reflect the values of modern society

Question: Should churches pay taxes?
Position1 of 2›: Yes, churches should pay taxes
Argument‹2 of 4›: A church tax would reflect the values of modern society

The tradition of church tax-exemption is antiquated and does not belong in the modern age.

The argument

The church tax exemption is antiquated. Historically, this tradition finds its roots in more religious time periods — eras in which religious observance could be assumed of the population, so that exempting churches amounted to relieving an institution nearly everybody belonged to and supported. That assumption is what has lapsed. The modern age leaves no room for such a policy because it no longer assumes the religious involvement of all citizens. Since a portion of modern society's population is non-religious, the exemption is not, for them, relief from a burden they share but a subsidy for an institution they have no part in: revenue the state forgoes has to be found from taxpayers generally, including those who never attend. Maintaining the exemption therefore means the government ignores shifting attitudes toward religion, preserving a policy whose justification rested on conditions that no longer hold. The change is not hypothetical, and it has been made elsewhere without difficulty. A church tax has emerged in many European countries such as Italy, Spain, and Germany, to name a few — states with substantial religious populations and long-established churches, which is what makes them the relevant comparison rather than convenient exceptions. By implementing the tax, these communities "caught up" with modern times, bringing their fiscal treatment of religion into line with the actual composition of their populations. The objection usually raised is that taxing churches would weaken religious life. The European experience does not bear that out: those countries have seen no decline in religious involvement since the change. Congregations continued and the institutions continued, under the same obligations that apply to other organisations. If the exemption's original justification has gone, and its removal costs religion nothing, then keeping it is simply an inherited anomaly rather than a considered policy. Churches should pay taxes.

Premises

[P1]The church tax exemption originated in eras when religious involvement was assumed of all citizens. [P2] Modern societies include substantial non-religious populations, so policies premised on universal religiosity no longer reflect public attitudes. [P3] European countries like Italy, Spain, and Germany have implemented church taxes without harming religious life, showing the policy fits modern conditions. [C] Therefore, churches should pay taxes to bring policy into line with the values of modern society.

Counter-arguments

The argument assumes that earlier times were more religious than the modern age. There is no evidence to support this.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] People are not necessarily less religious now.