Page 311 in the text book says
"Recent empirical research finds that being satisfied with one's income, and practicing some form of religion, are positively related to tax morale."
Considering
the church doesn't pay tax and indeed claims tax back from
contributions and investments, I'm not sure what the point or validity
of this unreferenced statement is, and is the author therefore
suggesting that atheists somehow have less tax morale - really.
John Redwoods blog (http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2014/02/21/should-churches-pay-more-tax/) says :
Churches legally avoid large amounts of tax. They receive
substantial donations from some of their richer members on death. These
gifts are free of Inheritance Tax.
They receive substantial donations from their living
members. Much of this money is gift aided, so the Churches receive large
sums from the state as repayment of the Income Tax which the donors had
paid before their gift.
The Churches, led by the Church of England, have tax free
Endowment funds which generate income and capital gains that are
untaxed. Some of this money is used for current spending. The Church
Commissioners manage a fund worth around £5,500 million.
I am absolutely stunned that this sort of nonsense is included in a
economics text, we had enough of this on the A222 philosophy course.
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