All-Ukrainian Council of Churches asks Verkhovna Rada to change the Law

Given complexities caused by the re-registration of statutes of religious organizations as it is required by the Tax Code, All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations has decided to request the Parliament to change an approach in favor of legislative regulations of the non-profit status rather than the statute-related one. It is reported by the Institute for Religious Freedom.

Representatives of the Churches noted that regional state administrations cannot cope with the processing of the number of statutes of religious communities that have already submitted them for re-registration. According to reports, about 10% of religious organizations in each region are currently re-registered. Therefore, the ACCRO considers it appropriate to recognize at a legislative level the special status of religious organizations and to consolidate the non-commercial nature of their activities at the law level.

It is exactly such changes that the Council of Churches will propose to the Verkhovna Rada. This will allow instead of a complex and lengthy re-registration of the statutes of all 35,000 religious organizations, directly in the profile Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations" to note the requirements for non-profit activities that the Tax Code now requires to make in the statutes.

In addition, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations urges the Cabinet of Ministers to resume activities of the interdepartmental commission on ensuring the rights of religious organizations. The last meeting of this commission was held in 2012.