Cap. 123 Art. 30Ecclesiastical and allied income.

(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, the provisions of this article shall apply in the case of any of the following:

(a) a diocese, including, in respect of any income accruing to him or vested in him by reason of his office, the bishop thereof;

(b) a parish;

(c) a church not falling under the jurisdiction of a parish and not due to be dealt with under paragraph (d);

(d) an ecclesiastical community as defined in sub-article

(9) hereof;

(e) a province or similar division of any religious order;

and each of the aforesaid is in this article referred to as "entity":

Provided that the Commissioner may, in such circumstances and subject to such conditions as he may deem appropriate, treat as one entity any two or more of the entities aforesaid.

(2) There shall be brought to charge to tax in the hands of any entity to which this article applies the income accruing to or derived by such entity as well as the income accruing to or derived by any associated, linked or allied institution, foundation, bequest, or other similar organisation or body of persons.

(3) The total gross receipts on revenue account of any entity to which this article applies, ascertained in accordance with the provisions of sub-article (2), shall be deemed to be receipts of a trade or business and the entity shall be chargeable accordingly: Provided that the provisions of article 14(1)(g) shall not apply in respect of any such entity.

(4) In the case of any ecclesiastical community, there shall be included in the gross receipts on revenue account any income received in his own right by any individual member thereof during the year immediately preceding the year of assessment:

Provided that any part of such income which is in excess of two thousand and three hundred and thirty euro (€2,330) shall be excluded.

(5) An entity shall be chargeable to tax in respect of its income for the year immediately preceding any year of assessment on the greater of the following two amounts:

(a) the income from all sources ascertained in accordance with the provisions of sub-articles (2), (3) and (4);

(b) that part of the income chargeable to tax under the provisions of article 4(1)(c), (d) and (e) to which there shall be added, in the case of an ecclesiastical community, the income received in his own right by any individual member thereof; in ascertaining the total amount of the income as aforesaid -

(i) the provisions of sub-article (2) shall be taken into account;

(ii) no deductions shall be allowed in respect of expenses or other charges other than ground-rent and other burdens on immovable property;

(iii) there shall be excluded such part of the income received in his own right by any individual member of an ecclesiastical community which is in excess of two thousand and three hundred and thirty euro (2,330).

(5A) An ecclesiastical community shall be entitled to a further deduction against its income as established under sub-article (5) equivalent to two thousand and three hundred and thirty euro (2,330) in respect of every individual who was a member thereof during the year immediately preceding the year of assessment: Provided that no such deduction shall be allowed under this sub-article in respect of any individual member who receives remuneration or other income from the ecclesiastical community of which he is an individual member.

(6) The provisions of sub-articles (4), (5) and (5A) shall not affect the liability to tax of any individual member of an ecclesiastical community on any income received by him in his own right.

(7) For the purposes of this article -

(a) a parish which is entrusted to an ecclesiastical community shall be deemed to be a separate entity from the said community;

(b) where more than one ecclesiastical community belong to the same religious order, each such community shall be dealt with as a separate entity for the purposes of this article if it is so considered by the statute of the order;

(c) the province or similar division of a religious order shall be deemed to be a separate entity from any of the communities falling under that order;

(d) where an entity to which this article applies operates on its own account a trading or commercial undertaking, including a school, printing press, hospital or cinema, the entity and the undertaking shall be chargeable to tax separately and only the entity shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this article, the undertaking being considered and dealt with as a separate body of persons for all purposes of this Act: Provided that -

(i) no profits or other income arising from the said undertaking in favour of the entity shall be included with the gross receipts of the entity for the purpose of any of the provisions of this Act;

(ii) no deductions shall be allowed in computing the total income of the undertaking in respect of any payments made to the entity on account of any expenses or charges whatsoever;

(e) total gross receipts on revenue account in all cases shall include income chargeable to tax in accordance with the provisions of article 4.

(8) Where any income accrues to or is in any way vested in the head of a diocese in virtue of his office and does not actually constitute personal gains or profits of the said head, such income together with any income accruing to or vested in the diocese, shall, for the purposes of this article, be deemed to be derived by one separate entity under the management and control of the head of the diocese; and the income accruing to the Archbishop of Malta and to the Bishop of Gozo in virtue of their office shall, notwithstanding any other provision of the law, be deemed to be six thousand and five hundred and fifty euro (6,550) and three thousand and five hundred euro (3,500) per annum respectively, or such higher sum as the Minister responsible for finance, from information given or otherwise obtained, determines to be the income received by them in virtue of their office, and the said income shall be added for assessment purposes to their personal income: Provided that the Commissioner shall grant such relief from the tax to any other person or entity as will, in his opinion, prevent the said amounts of six thousand and five hundred and fifty euro (6,550) and three thousand and five hundred euro (3,500) (or any higher sums determined as aforesaid) being brought to charge both in the hands of the said bishops and in the hands of any other person or entity in the same year of assessment.

(9) For the purposes of this article and of article 56(4) -

"ecclesiastical community" means a number of individuals living together in a community in accordance with the rules of a religious order recognised as such by the Commissioner; "individual member", in relation to an ecclesiastical community, means any individual, lay or religious, who formed part of such community on the thirty first day of December during the year immediately preceding the year of assessment.