A tax on Church incomes might eventually be introduced by the Romanian Government, since Prime Minister Victor Ponta has announced that doctors from public hospitals should take money from patients legally and they must pay a 16 per cent tax on this income.
According to government sources quoted by Gândul, The Powers That Be may tax the small business of the Orthodox Church, such as the income derived from selling candles and icons. The other incomes of the Church, however, are to remain intact.
The draft Law on a Church tax is not endorsed by all the Cabinet member, because 2016 is an election year. Under this draft, however, the money collected from taxes on Church incomes would be returned by the state to various places of worship, to be used for charitable activities.
The Romanian Patriarchate and its Dioceses last year reported to the Finance Ministry net profits of almost seven and a half million euros. The big money-maker of the Romanian Orthodox Church is the Archbishopric of Bucharest, with a net profit of 1.67 million euros in 2014, followed by the Metropolitican Community Church of Moldavia. Two dioceses lost money in 2014, although churches are also financed directly from the state budget.
The Romanian Orthodox Church has other business activities too, such as the pilgrimages organised by the Basilica Travel Agency, which makes good money. In 2014, this Agency turned a profit of 114 thousand euros, which funded the activities of the newspaper, radio and TV stations owned by the Church.