Civil society fears taxing of commercial activities

Civil society organisations are concerned about the government’s intention to tax non-profit organisations as they are already struggling financially.

This was said by Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) Executive Director Graham Hopwood when he presented the 2019 Civil Society Organisation Sustainability Index.

Hopwood said the government through the Ministry of Finance in March 2018 proposed taxing any income that charities derive from commercial activities.

Hopwood stated that while taxing commercial activities makes sense on paper, in reality, it poses a serious challenge to the survival of civil society organisations.

“Civil society organisations have problems because general donor funding is going down, which is what they depend on for survival. They will have to look at other initiatives to get money for themselves”, he pointed out.

Hopwood noted that while civil society is not entirely against the taxing of their commercial activities, they want the government to consult them so they can discuss challenges that may result from such a tax. - Nampa