AUSTRALIA – A Christian family who refused to pay income tax because it went “against God’s will” was ordered to pay more than A$2m (£1.1m $1.4m).
Rembertus Cornelis Beerepoot and Fanny Alida Beerepoot, of Tasmania, have not paid income tax since 2011.
Their farm was seized and sold by their local council in 2017 after they failed to pay seven years-worth of rate.
Fanny told the court: “We don’t own anything because we are (God’s).”
The siblings represented themselves in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Wednesday, after they failed to pay some $930,000 in income tax and other charges in 2017.
Beerepoot argued the law of God is the “supreme law of this land” and making people pay tax was weakening their dependency on God.
Associate Justice Stephen Holt said that while he believed the Beerepoots’ beliefs to be genuinely held rather, he said there was no specific reference in the Bible to support their argument.
The siblings were ordered to pay similar sums to cover “income tax, administrative penalties and general interest charges” and other costs.(BBC)
