The National Congress enacted, this afternoon (17), the Amendment to the Constitution nº 116, which grants exemption from the Tax on Urban Property and Territorial Property (IPTU) to religious temples that operate in rented properties. The proposal has been going through Congress since 2015, having been approved in 2016 in the Senate. In the Chamber of Deputies, voting was completed at the end of 2021.
Amendment No. 116 extends to temples in rented properties a benefit that churches that have their own properties already enjoyed. Although the Constitution establishes that religious temples must not pay the tax, there was still disagreement as to whether, in the case of rented properties, when tenants are responsible for paying the IPTU, the rule was also valid.
For the president of Congress, Senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), the PEC reinforces what the Constitution already says, when it provides for religious assistance activities in civil and military entities of collective internment and, therefore, “values the social activity performed by the practice of religion”. Pacheco also emphasized the role of the amendment enacted today to guarantee legal certainty for the churches.
“The promulgation of the proposed amendment to the Constitution removes misunderstandings and prevents any restriction of freedom of belief by creating obstacles to the exercise of religions. And it does so based on the protection of freedom of belief and the promotion of the exercise of religious activity”, said Pacheco.
