User:Brian McNeil/Scientology tax-exempt in South Africa

Already in December 2007 the Church of Scientology in South Africa was certified as tax exempt by the South African Revenue Services (SARS).

The president of the Church in South Africa, Ryan Hogarth, said that the Revenue Services issued the Church with a certificate approving its tax-exempt status.

A SARS spokesperson told the Southafrican newspaper Independent Online that the reason for approval is that the Church met the criteria as a 'Public Benefit Organisation'.

Already in 2000 ministers of the Church of Scientology in South Africa received the right to perform legal marriages.