Churches in Kenya are increasingly becoming involved with taxable commercial activities to boost their incomes, Business Daily reports.
According to Kenya Revenue Authority report, three churches in Kenya have reported a turnover of between Sh350 million and Sh1 billion.
Coptic Orthodox Church, Nairobi Pentecostal Church (NPC) and Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church are among the organizations in Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) latest listing that have an annual turnover of that amount.
The three churches are in the same category as giant companies like Google Kenya, Kirinyaga Construction and others that post such turnovers.
In recent years, church organizations have diversified into investing into the lucrative real estate industry, banking, education, health sectors and hospitality industry to ease over-reliance on tithe and offerings.
Churches are exempted from some tax as provided by the Non-Governmental Organizations and Co-ordination Act.
It is believed that they play a crucial role in fighting poverty in various communities through providing scholarships to needy students, medical services to the poor among other things.
However, control of property owned by church organizations has in the recent past been a nightmare as reported by Daily Nation.