Nearly $17 Billion in Assets, Little Tax: What the Numbers Say About Jamaica’s Registered Churches

• 431 churches registered as charities reported combined assets of almost $17 billion
• That works out to an average of about $39.3 million per church
• Church buildings are shielded by Section 10 of the Property Tax Act
• Registered charitable churches also avoid income tax and certain other taxes

How much are Jamaica’s churches worth? In October 2021 the Observer put a figure on it, at least for the churches that register with the State. According to the Department of Co-operatives and Friendly Societies (DCFS), 431 churches registered as charitable entities reported combined assets of $16,958,778,530.78, an average of roughly $39.3 million each.

The DCFS confirmed the number in a statement dated October 8, 2021: “Our most recently updated records reflect that churches registered with the department as charitable entities have a total of $16,958,778,530.78 in assets.” The Observer also reported church income of $701 million for 2019.

Much of that wealth is protected from the taxman. Church buildings used for worship and related purposes are exempt from property tax under Section 10 of the Property Tax Act. Once registered as charitable organisations, churches are also outside the income tax net. Meris Haughton of Tax Administration Jamaica explained: “They (churches) would not pay income tax and certain other taxes once registered.”

The report, by business writer Avia Ustanny Collinder, also shows how little of this picture is discussed in public. Individual churches the newspaper contacted did not respond, and the Jamaica Council of Churches could not be reached, with the report citing COVID-19 disruptions.

For Jamaicans at home and abroad, the figures are a reminder that the Church is not only a spiritual institution but a significant holder of assets. Tax relief for churches is usually defended on the basis of the education, welfare and community work they do, but it also raises fair questions of stewardship: how church property is managed, whether idle land could serve housing or community needs, and how transparently congregations account to members and donors. For diaspora givers sending money home for church projects, asking for clear financial statements is not a lack of faith; it is good stewardship.

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