The Chief Executive of HM Revenue and Customs, the UK’s tax office, has responded to former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott’s request for an investigation into the Church of Scientology’s finances after she cited concerns over their “history of fraudulent activity internationally”.
The Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP, who has been in Parliament since 1987, wrote to HMRC in January after Scientology Business Editor Alexander Barnes-Ross contacted her with concerns about Scientology’s activities in the UK. Referencing a 2023 tax ruling in which Scientology chapels were granted partial relief from Business Rates tax, she said in her response “I have written to HMRC, who brought the case against the Church of Scientology for ruling that their “chapel” was a place of worship, urging them to look again at options to appeal this decision and also to more broadly investigate the churches finances for fraudulent activity.”
We can now reveal that HMRC have responded to Ms. Abbott’s request, with Chief Executive and Permanent Secretary Jim Harra replying “clamping down on those who try to cheat the system through evading taxes and overclaiming benefits is a key priority for us.”
“We have a duty to maintain confidentiality to all the information we hold about people and organisations. This means that we cannot disclose information about a particular case, including any steps we may take based on information we have received” he wrote. “We assess all the information we receive, and then decide on the most appropriate course of action to take.”
It is understandable that he was unable to confirm whether any action is being taken in response to Abbott’s letter, however Harra did demonstrate knowledge of last year’s lawsuit, writing “On 5 January 2023, the Upper Tribunal published its decision on the Church of Scientology’s claim for partial exemption from non-domestic rating on premises which it occupies at 146 Queen Victoria Street, London. The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) decided not to appeal the decision and is now out of time to do so.”
He concluded the letter with the contact details for who to contact with regard to concerns about the ruling “or evidence that the Church of Scientology services are [not] open to the public”.
The letter demonstrates the significance of Diane Abbott’s support in the bid to raise awareness about Scientology’s activities in the UK. HMRC did not respond with a blanket, nondescript auto-reply but instead caught the attention of the CEO who personally responded and cited the 2023 court case. This means it’s on her radar – thanks to the weight her support provides.
Abbott was the first black female to be elected to Parliament and has held several senior positions both in government and the Shadow Cabinet. In 2017, an Amnesty International report found she receives ten times more abuse than any other MP and that half of all abusive tweets directed at female MPs were targeted towards her. We couldn’t think of a better prepared politician when it comes to dealing with Scientology’s ‘Fair Game’ tactics.
Last month, actress Leah Remini released a statement applauding Abbott’s support, writing on The Underground Bunker “The fact that Alex has an MP who is not shying away from seeking the truth is an accomplishment in itself. I support him, and I thank him — and Ms. Abbott — for asking the UK’s equivalent of the IRS to open a real investigation of Scientology.”
“If they are not thwarted by Scientology’s usual evasive tactics, they will be successful in exposing this business-for-profit masquerading as a religion around the globe.”
After contacting HMRC’s press department for comment, a spokesperson told us: “We neither confirm nor deny investigations and cannot comment on identifiable individuals or businesses.”
You can read Harra’s response to Diane Abbott in full below.
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[…] has stood as the Labour Member of Parliament for Hackney North & Stoke Newington since 1987, voiced her concerns about Scientology’s harassment of critics and former members and formally requested an investigation into their […]
[…] against Scientology in the UK. In February, HM Revenue & Customs Chief Executive Jim Harra responded to calls for an investigation into Scientology’s UK finances after former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott wrote to him citing their “history of […]
Good work in that the subject matter of CofS taxes was brought to the attention of the HMRC.
There is also the matter of Freeloader bills which the Church issues but as we all know never ever pursues legally. Mine was issued very formally detailing all the services taken and when and for how much etc etc. (I would send you mine but unfortunately I threw it away years ago.) It is or actually should be an Accounts receivable (AR) which is the balance of money due to a firm for goods or services delivered or used but not yet paid for by customers. Accounts receivable is to be listed on the balance sheet as a current asset. Any amount of money owed by customers for purchases made on credit is AR.
But the Church does not include these Freeloader bills on their balancesheets as AR. Whether that eventually is good or bad for the Church is something I do not know. But isn’t it a financial irregularity as they are omitting something from their balancesheets that ought to be on it because they issued formal invoices to collect against?!
Shame on all responsible for allowing scientology to operate at all, let alone receive tax breaks. It’s a clear and obvious fraud. It is not a religion.
Even if it was it should still not be given any tax breaks. No religion should, given that they all completely lack credible evidence.
The problem lies in politicians being fearful of taking on any organisation that purports to be a religion. They know that if belief is challenged they will be subject to a huge backlash. They should have more courage and tackle all nonsense head on. This would include the so called ‘psychic’ business. If you want to sell a car you have to put it through extensive tests to prove it works. If you say you are selling ‘religion’ you do not have to prove it is true.
‘Religion’ is a caveat emptor type of thing in the US and most of the world. Adherents are expected to exercise their due diligence and make decisions accordingly. How can you exercise due diligence if each ‘level’ in the $cienoverse is secret from succeeding levels? And you can’t discuss your ‘case’ with anyone, comparing experiences is forbidden as the New Meat might get the idea the $cientolgy is bovine excrement.