Granting Tax Benefits: “Recognition” of Smaller (New) Religious Movements as a Condition for Equal Treatment
by Adriaan Overbeeke
Question(s) at stake
Whether tax legislation that henceforth limits a tax exemption for religious buildings to a specific category of state-funded religious communities, in order to guarantee that the tax exemption is only granted to “authentic” religions, is discriminatory and whether this legislation affects the neutrality obligation to which the government is bound.
Outcome of the ruling
Tax legislation that henceforth limits a tax exemption for religious buildings to a specific category of “recognized” state-funded religious communities is not discriminatory, since the recognition system is open to new entrants (new religious groups) and the tax advantage can therefore be regained by applying for and obtaining recognition status.
Country:
Official citation
Constitutional Court ,14 November 2019, no. 178/2019, (Cour constitutionnelle, 14 novembre 2019, n° 178/2019)
Topic(s)
Keywords:
Concepts and criteria Indirect State support Legal status Legal toolbox New Religious Movements Non-discrimination Non-recognition Recognition and registration of groups Rights and freedoms State approaches and constitutional framework State neutrality Tax exemptions Taxes
Tag(s):
Bibliographic information
Access case report
View case report in the CUREDI databaseAbout the authors
Adriaan Overbeeke (Faculty of Law, VU University Amsterdam - Faculty of Law, Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium)
Adriaan Overbeeke holds a BA degree in Political & Social Sciences from the University of Antwerp (Belgium), and received a MA degree in Political Sciences from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, a MA decree in Law and a PhD degree in Law both from the University of Antwerp (Belgium). In his PhD thesis, ’The state and the human rights position of religious and life stance communities: the protection of corporate aspects of religious freedom in the Belgian Constitution, in the context of international treaties' (thesis supervisor Prof. Dr. Jan Velaers) he researched the evolving legal status of religious (minority) groups in the context of Belgian constitutional law.
Currently he is a Researcher at the Faculty of Law of both the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the University of Antwerp and a member of the Board of the Institute for Jewish Studies (University of Antwerp).
Overbeeke’s current research deals with the collective aspects of the human rights protection of religious diversity throughout Europe, also in a historical perspective. For CUREDI he acts as a reviewer and is a member of the coordination team and the editorial board.