Help, help, I'm being oppressed!

[badstar]

http://www.stockportexpress.co.uk/news/s/1054460_shop_or_temple__witch_is_it

So this lady has a pagan shop. You know, a store.

And people meet there for rituals and stuff.

So she wants place of worship status for the place. That is, she wants tax-exempt status.

For a store.

Maybe British taxes are different (anyone reading from the UK have any comments?) but it seems to me that if one was to petition one's government to make a store tax-exempt...that it might not go over so well. Am I crazy here?

Now, the reasons given for the denial are a little misguided, and I think the folks that made these statements need to learn a little bit about the Wiccan religion:

The Home Office argues that the religion does not involve worship of a supreme being so is not legitimate, a point which Sandra strongly refutes.

But seriously kids. At the end of the day, it's a store.

Comments

[dragonprince72.livejournal.com]

Really it comes down to what the law says - not what is common sense - because yes it may be a store but let's say it was a Christian store which lead services in the back of the store and tried the same thing - something tells me that there is a loophole in the law there that would have let that store get away w/ it and perhaps the law is written to purposefully ignore all religions of a polytheistic or athiestic nature(that is any relion non-monotheistic). Perhaps if they were Christian they would indeed get the "You're a store so no" argument but - it's government...I doubt it. They don't think through their decisions much and then 5 yrs down the road they are like "Wait...we have to get your money back now..we screwed up".

[a-quiet-patch.livejournal.com]

I'm from the UK.
She's loopy. :D

[half-double.livejournal.com]

the religion does not involve worship of a supreme being so is not legitimate

Uhmmmm...did we just knock all non-Abrahamic religions out of the running here?

[fretherne.livejournal.com]

I work for the home office here in the UK.

We have reconsidered this petition and I am pleased to say that we are going to allow the tax exempt status to this lady but we are going to burn her at the stake on Wednesday. Normal Health and safety regulations will apply and she has also been granted a smokeless fuel exemption.

[leodios.livejournal.com]

The way I understand it in the US, if you're a church and you SELL things, say, at a church gift shop, that activity is taxed. However, DONATIONS to the church would be tax exempt.

Honestly, I don't see why that wouldn't work out in this case, assuming the UK law is similar. If the area is legitimately used as both a temple and store, the things that they sell would be taxed, but donnations to running the temple wouldn't be. Hell, she can't be selling more crap than the Cathedral in Los Angeles...

I'm more squicked at he idea of Wicca as the UK's "first religion" than anything else...uh, yeah.