Now Taxes Are Added to Mission Funds!

 Now Taxes Are Added to Mission Funds!

 

                    Mission funds are by no means a private gift that transfers personal assets for personal purposes. Obeying the Lord's Great Commission to be witnesses of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, they are a holy offering presented to God by all believers and the lifeline of a ministry that saves souls among the nations. However, with the approval and authorization of President Lee Jae-myung, head of the executive branch, the amendment to the 'Enforcement Decree of the Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act' was promulgated and implemented on February 27, 2026. As a result, the overseas missions of the Korean Church face an unprecedented and immense crisis. Through this single presidential decree—which bypasses National Assembly scrutiny—the scope of tax-exempt public benefit corporations was abruptly restricted to 'domestic entities and residents,' making all sponsorship funds sent to overseas mission fields and missionaries a target for a tax bomb.

                    The problem is that the Christian community only became aware of this presidential decree after May. How could such a critical matter be approved and executed without a single word of consultation or discussion with the Christian community!

                    The taxation reality to which this amended decree applies is truly severe. A basic 10% gift tax is imposed even on remittances for the minimal living expenses or basic ministry costs of overseas missionaries, carving away the holy offerings of believers into taxes. Furthermore, in the case of large-scale mission funds sent for building local chapels, schools, or conducting major relief efforts, progressive tax rates and legal penalties combined could result in punitive taxes reaching up to nearly 70%. By blocking both the pathways through which offerings enter and exit, an unjust control takes place that drives local missionaries to become financial and legal transgressors.

                    Behind this series of policies designed to pressure church finances and silence their voice under the President's approval lies a deeply rooted communist and socialist mindset aimed at dismantling the church and allowing the state to control all values and finances. It is a textbook example of a collectivist policy of suppression that stifles the free religious activities of individuals and churches while excessively extending state authority to control even sacred domains. Attempts to use legal frameworks of punishment to silence voices criticizing the government's unbiblical policies based on biblical truth are a secular oppression that fundamentally destroys religious and expressional freedoms—the core of liberal democracy.

                    In the Bible, the Apostle Paul declared concerning the mission funds sent by the Philippian church that they were "a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God" (Philippians 4:18). The sponsorship funds given by believers for the spread of the Gospel are the fruit of a holy ministry pleasing to God, as well as a sign of spiritual fellowship and partnership shared among believers in Christ. As in the confession of the apostles who declared, "We must obey God rather than human beings" (Acts 5:29), the holy mission of the Church can never succumb to secular oppression or unjust ideologies. It is time for the Korean Church and believers to awaken spiritually, pray that the channel of the Gospel remains unblocked, and boldly raise their voices of truth to protect the mission of the Church and the freedom of faith."