Can God be taxed?

For all those who believe in GOD this is a tough and unpleasant question. In the first place why would one want to tax the GOD who created the Tax officials? The court thinks the other way.

Now let us look at the legal position of a “Hindu Idol” as for Hindus the Idols are symbolic representation of the GOD himself. The Privy Council considered the idol as a juristic person but it is a junior who constantly needs a guardian to act on its behalf. The will of the idol must be respected pertaining to its location. In the Yogendra Nath Naskar V. Commissioner of Income Tax, the Supreme Court of India held that the Hindu idol is a juristic entity capable of holding property and of being taxed through ‘Shebaits’ who are entrusted with the possession and management of its property.

A Hindu deity falls within the meaning of the word individual under the Income Tax Act, 1922 and can be a person in law, but so far as the deity stands as the representative and symbal of the particular purpose which is indicated by the donor, it can figure as a legal person and in that capacity alone the dedicated property vests in it. There is no principle why a deity should not be taxed if it is allowed in law to own property.

So now let us see whether a Mosque, Church, Synagogue, Gurudwara, is a juristic person or not. As per the privy council, they are not. They are not legal persons because, they do not have rights or duties as natural persons. However the Privy council left the question open whether such religious places could for any purpose be regarded as a juristic person.