{"id":3789,"date":"2017-07-07T15:42:01","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T10:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=3789"},"modified":"2017-07-07T15:42:01","modified_gmt":"2017-07-07T10:12:01","slug":"spread-rumour-churches-mosques-exempted-gst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/spread-rumour-churches-mosques-exempted-gst\/","title":{"rendered":"Who spread the rumour that Churches and Mosques are exempted from GST?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How long can one ignore a problem before it becomes a liability? In recent past, a fake Whatsapp forward that went viral led to lynching of 8 people in Jharkhand. A photoshopped image of Kaaba has led to riots in Baduria, West Bengal in 2017. A photoshopped image of some Hindu gods led to lynching of a 24 year old techie in Pune, Maharashtra in 2014. Fakery in the form of shady news websites, bogus WhatsApp forwards and morphed images has become omnipresent in our lives in the recent years.<\/p>\n

However, not once has the Union Government or any of the State Governments even acknowledged the explosion of disinformation in the recent years. It was only inevitable that this multi-headed hydra would bite them at some point in time.<\/p>\n

On 3rd July 2017, Government of India had to put out a press release which stated, “There are some messages going around in the social media stating that the temple trusts have to pay the GST while the churches and mosques are exempt. This is completely untrue because no distinction is made in the GST Law on any provision based on religion. We request to people not to start circulating such wrong messages on social media.<\/em>”<\/p>\n

Finance Ministry also relayed the same information regarding the rumours via its official Twitter account.<\/p>\n

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There are some messages going around in social media stating that temple trusts have to pay the GST while the churches & mosques are exempt.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) July 3, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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This is completely untrue because no distinction is made in the GST Law on any provision based on religion.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) July 3, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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We request to people at large not to start circulating such wrong messages on social media.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) July 3, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To investigate the issue further, Alt News reached out to some Muslim trusts and spoke to them about this issue. All of them confirmed that they are complying with the prevalent tax laws in the country and have already received provisional GST certificates.<\/p>\n

Usman H Qureshi, a member of Quresh committee, Mirzapur, Ahmedabad and also a member of Mirzapur Moti Quresh Jamaat (Trust) stated that they have already received the GST registration number and will be paying taxes according to the prevalent laws. They also sent across their provisional GST certificate to Alt News.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alt News also spoke to Rizwan Qadri who is the President of Ahmedabad Sunni Muslim Waqf Committee (Trust). Mr Qadri stated that the trust has several properties across the city and they receive rent in excess of 3 lakhs per month. Since the upper limit of GST exemption is 20 lakhs, their annual income necessitates that they be registered with GST. He confirmed to Alt News that they having been paying Service Tax on the trusts’s income since before the introduction of GST, have also registered with GST and will be paying taxes according to the new Tax Regime.<\/p>\n

Based on the PIB press release, tweets by Finance Ministry and the conversations that Alt News had with several minority religious trusts, it is clear that GST on religious institutions is not a function of religion and all the religious institutions will be uniformly taxed. So, who spread these dangerous rumours, yet again? <\/p>\n

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy had claimed in a Tweet that only Temple activities will be taxed.<\/p>\n

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GST will tax Temple activities but not of Mosques & Churches. It also exempts liquor\/hard drinks. If not true please inform<\/p>\n

\u2014 Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) June 21, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n