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Judgment Day for Christians claiming taxes 'against God's will'
'We don't own anything because we are His'
Published July 21, 2019 at 3:57pm
Actor Jim Caviezel portraying Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ."
A judge has ordered two Christians who argued taxes were "against God's will" to pay about $1.6 million, because "thou shalt not tax" is not in the Bible.
Australia's ABC network reported Christian missionaries Fanny Alida Berrepoot and her brother Rembertus Cornelis Beerepoot were in a hearing in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Wednesday.
They had argued to the court that the Australian taxation law was opposed to the law of "Almighty God."
Rembertus Beerepoot told the court, "We believe that the constitution affirms the fact that the Commonwealth resides within the jurisdiction of the law of the Almighty God and the law of the Almighty God is the supreme law of this land."
But Associate Justice Stephen Holt said the two were unable to provide evidence.
"If you can't find me a passage in scripture or gospel that says 'thou shall not pay tax' then can you see I have difficulty finding a starting point?" he asked, according to ABC.
The judge said he believed the claims "to be honestly and genuinely held beliefs rather than an attempt to avoid tax liabilities."
However, he said, "in my view, the Bible effectively said that civil matters and the law of God operate in two different spheres."
He ordered the brother and sister to pay about $816,000 and $821,000 respectively for income tax liabilities, administrative costs, interest and other charges, ABC reported.
Representing themselves in court, they explained they paid taxes before 2011 but stopped when a "deepened spiritual relationship" led them to believe paying taxes was "against God's will."
By being made to pay taxes, they said, their dependence on God was being taken away, which was causing Australia to be cursed.
Rembertus Beerepoot said, "As we move outside of God's jurisdiction, this country has received curses which we're already seeing in the form of droughts and infertility.
"Transferring our allegiance from God to the Commonwealth would mean rebelling against God and therefore breaking the first commandment."
She added: "As we reject God, the curses upon us become greater, but if we return to God's teachings there will be healing. We rely on the blessings we receive from God which we give to him and not to an outside entity such as the tax office."
ABC reported the family had property in Northern Tasmania seized in 2017 and sold for about $85,000 for failing to pay about $2,100 in taxes on the property over seven years.
"We don't own anything because we are [God's]," she said.