AAP FACTCHECK – Muslims don’t have to pay council tax in the UK if they pray at home, social media posts claim.
This is false. There’s no council tax exemption for Muslims if they pray at home.
While the claim isn’t new, posts have surged recently following increased Islamophobia in the UK, and have also appeared in Australian Facebook groups.
Muslims are required to pray five times a day as one of the five pillars of Islam.
One post, featuring a photo of a petition, reads: “Can someone tel me why it’s ok for muslims to be council tax exempt if they pray in there house I practice Buddhism in my house and we have to pay !!!!! Does that sound right to you UNBELIEVABLE.”
“Muslims who use their living area’s within their homes as a place of Worship, are exempt from paying Council Tax. Something wrong here,” another post reads.
“And Muslims don’t have to pay council tax because they have a prayer room..that’s why non Muslims have to pay so much council tax..I pray but I still have to pay council tax.so basically the government r being racist to non Muslims..am I wrong,” a third post reads.
AAP FactCheck found the petition seen in some of the posts, which is from 2013 and was labelled as misleading by the UK government and parliament website.
Dr Bernard Schneider, senior lecturer in international tax law at the Queen Mary University of London, said the claim was false.
He explained that council tax is a tax on domestic properties collected by local councils in the UK.
Money collected typically goes towards paying for local services such as libraries and youth services.
The Australian equivalent is council rates.
“Council Tax is applied to domestic properties,” Dr Schneider told AAP FactCheck.
“There is no exemption for the use of a domestic property, or part of a domestic property, for private religious purposes by the followers of any religion.”
Dr Stuart MacLennan, associate professor of law at Coventry Law School and a leading academic expert on council tax law, agreed.
He said the claim was “abject, unmitigated, b******s”.
There may be a council tax discount or exemption for members of a religious community who receive no income, and are dependent on the community for their material needs, such as monks or nuns.
Certified places of public worship are exempt from business rates.
FullFact has also debunked the claim.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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