Revenue 91
recorded as tax revenue receivable by the government
unit. Amounts retained by the collecting unit as a col-
lection charge should be recorded as a payment for a
service receivable by the collecting unit and payable
by the government unit.
5.39 Th e attribution of church or “zakat” taxes requires
some further consideration. Th e treatment of these taxes
depends on the sector classifi cation of the religious insti-
tutional units (see paragraph 2.61). In countries where
some of the activities of the religious organizations are
funded from earmarked taxes raised by general govern-
ment, such as church or zakat taxes, these are included
in the tax component of government revenue, provided
they meet the defi nition of taxes set out in paragraphs
5.2 and 5.23. Th e base on which such religious taxes are
levied can vary from country to country (the most usual
cases are income, property, or net wealth). Th ese taxes
should be classifi ed in the tax category that best describes
the tax base on which they are levied.
5.40 When the religious organizations are not part
of general government,^15 historical and administra-
tive reasons may still determine that contributions to
religious organizations are collected through the tax
authorities. In this case, the contributions should be
recorded as fi nancial transactions classifi ed in other
accounts payable (3308). Amounts retained by the tax
authority as a collection charge should be recorded as
sales of goods and services (142) receivable from the
religious organizations. Th e collected amounts are not
taxes and are therefore not included in tax revenue if
any of the following conditions apply:
- Individuals may opt out of the “tax” payment by
formally declaring to the tax authorities their
wish to leave the religious organizations. - Government is acting in a collection agency ca-
pacity on behalf of the religious organizations. - Government does not exercise the authority to
impose a compulsory contribution, or - Government has limited or no discretion to set
and vary the rate of the contributions.^16
(^15) Th e authority to raise taxes is an exclusive right of government
units. As a result, when religious organizations are not part of
general government, religious “taxes” are classifi ed as transfers
from households to religious organizations when compiling
national accounts.
(^16) If the individuals may not opt out of the liability for the pay-
ment of the tax, or where the government imposes and sets the
rates of such contributions, it may be a suffi cient indication that
such contributions to the religious organizations are indeed a tax.
Tax categories
Taxes on income, profi ts, and capital gains (111)
5.41 Taxes on income, profi ts, and capital gains
(111) consist of taxes assessed on the actual or pre-
sumed incomes of institutional units. Th ey include
taxes assessed on holdings of property, land, or real
estate when these holdings are used as a basis for esti-
mating the income of their owners. Th ese taxes, oft en
referred to as income taxes, include:- Taxes on individual or household income—Th ese
consist of personal income taxes, including those
deducted by employers (pay-as-you-earn taxes)
and surtaxes. Such taxes are usually levied on
the total declared or presumed income from all
sources of the person concerned: compensa-
tion of employees (e.g., wages, salaries, tips, fees,
commissions, fringe benefi ts), property income
(e.g., interest, dividends, rent, royalty incomes),
and pensions (taxable portions of social security,
pension, annuity, life insurance, and other retire-
ment benefi t distributions), etc., aft er deducting
certain allowances in accordance with tax laws.
Taxes on the income of the owners of unincor-
porated enterprises^17 are included here. Also
included are income taxes on the income of fam-
ily estates and trusts where the benefi ciaries are
individuals. - Taxes on the income of corporations—Th ese
consist of corporate income taxes, corporate
profi ts taxes, corporate surtaxes, etc. Such taxes
are usually assessed on the total incomes of
corporations—with corporations understood as
in macroeconomic statistics. Th is item includes
taxes on the income of units such as partner-
ships, sole proprietorships, estates,^18 and some
trusts that are recognized as corporations. Th is
covers income from all sources and not simply
profi ts generated by production. Also included
are income taxes on trusts where the benefi cia-
ries are corporations. - Taxes on capital gains—Th ese consist of taxes
on the capital gains (including capital gains dis-
tributions of investment funds) of persons or
(^17) For a defi nition and discussion of unincorporated enterprises,
see paragraphs 2.32–2.33.
(^18) Th ese types of estates are recognized as quasi-corporations and
generally classifi ed as captive fi nancial institutions.