A strategic analysis of revenue generated by churches, in relation to possible tax loss in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Churches are now in the practice of lavish spending and are competing stiffly with the corporate world in property acquisitions. Pastors (also fashionably called prophets) are now living lives be-yond those of executives of blue chip corporates. The research was carried out with the main aim of analyzing revenue generated by churches in Zimbabwe. The main thrust was to establish the possibil-ity of introducing tax on revenue generated by churches in a developing country like Zimbabwe which has a budget deficit and a dearth of funds to improve the economy, yet pastors and their churches spend lavishly without being taxed like other citizens. The study adopted the qualitative and quantitative approaches in order to undertake an in-depth analysis of revenue generated by churches. This concentrated on the use of primary data collection method (questionnaires, interviews and participatory observation).The findings of the study were used to ascertain the impact of religion (churches) on social, political and cultural factors of any society, mainly because churches are draw-ing huge number of followers (devotees) from the society. The taxation of churches may immensely improve revenue collection for the state and also deter abuse of funds of congregants.