Samoa's revenue minister is staying tight-lipped over a church's decision to ignore a law requiring ministers to pay tax.
Tialavea Tionisio Hunt Photo: Samoa Observer
The decision by the Congregational Christian Church has brought it into a head-to-head confrontation with the prime minister.
As part of the government's tax reforms, church pastors are now required to pay income tax for the first time.
But the Congregational Christian Church - Samoa's biggest - is choosing to flout the law, which has stirred a heated back-and-forth with Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
The church says ministers should never pay taxes, and at a closed-door general assembly [ http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/358565/samoa-pm-criticises-church-assembly-tax-objection] a week ago, a senior minister said the move could lead to the government's downfall.
In parliament, though, Tuilaepa said such talk was tantamount to the church holding a gun to the government's head, adding that the law has already been passed.
But the revenue minister, Tialavea Tionisio Hunt, told the Samoa Observer he's choosing to stay out of it until the government meets with the church.
The Chairman of the National Council of Churches has also distanced himself, saying the Congregational Church is a sovereign body.
