Recognition of Scientology and the Church of Scientology varies from country to country with respect to state recognition for religious status, charitable status, or tax exempt status. Decisions are contingent upon the legal constructs of each individual country, and results are not uniform worldwide. For example, the absence of a clear definition for 'religion' or 'religious worship' has resulted in unresolved and uncertain status for Scientology in some countries.
Some local branches of Scientology do not meet the legal prerequisites for recognition as a religion-supporting organization in certain countries, and still other countries regard Scientology as a dangerous cult. Such countries may treat Scientology as a commercial enterprise or even forbid its practice.
In 1993, the Church of Scientology was granted tax exempt status in the United States, its home country. Though it has received religious recognition in some countries, in other countries it operates either as a non-profit or for-profit non-religious organization. The Church of Scientology frequently pursues litigation to obtain state recognition for religious status.
Strategy The Church of Scientology's interest is to be recognized as a religion as well as a charitable organization. Max Halupka observes "While a tax-exempt status is not a legal declaration of religious authenticity, the significance afforded the status by the public serves to color its true purpose. That is, to the public, tax-exemption denotes legal recognition and, thus, religious legitimacy." Using perception management as an influence tactic, the Church of Scientology has sought legitimacy as a mainstream religion through public acceptance. Halupka continues, "From a marketing standpoint, such legal recognition could be utilized in combating the general perception of [the Church of Scientology's] cult status, which resulted, in large part, from criticisms of the religion's seemingly profit-driven purpose."
Scientology as a religion
Scientology is officially recognized as a religion in the United States. Recognition came in 1993,Phillip Lucas New Religious Movements in the 21st Century, p. 235, Routledge, 2004 when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stated that "[Scientology is] operated exclusively for religious and charitable purposes."
The New York Times noted in this connection that the Church of Scientology had funded a campaign which included a whistle-blower organization to publicly attack the IRS, as well as hiring of private investigators to look into the private lives of IRS officials. In 1991, Miscavige, the highest-ranking Scientology leader, arranged a meeting with Fred T. Goldberg Jr., the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service at the time. According to the Church of Scientology's version of events, the meeting was an opportunity for the organization to offer to end its long dispute with the IRS, including the dozens of suits brought against the agency, in exchange for the exemptions that Scientology believed it deserved. Goldberg's response was quite out of the ordinary: he created a special working group to resolve the dispute, bypassing the agency's exempt organizations division. The group met several times with the Scientology legal team and, according to an unnamed official quoted by the New York Times, "was persuaded that those involved in the Snow White crimes had been purged, that church money was devoted to tax-exempt purposes and that, with Mr. Hubbard's death, no one was getting rich from Scientology."
In August 1993, a settlement was reached; the organization would receive its tax-exempt status and end its legal actions against the IRS and its personnel. The organization was required only to resubmit new applications for exemption to the IRS Exempt Organizations (EO) division, which was told "not to consider any substantive matters" because those issues had been resolved by the committee. The secret agreement was announced on October 13, 1993, with the IRS refusing to disclose any of the terms or the reasoning behind the decision. Both the IRS and Scientology rejected any allegations that foul play or undue pressure had been used on IRS officials, insisting that the decision had been based on the merits of the case. IRS officials "insisted that Scientology's tactics had not affected the decision" and that "ultimately the decision was made on a legal basis". Miscavige claims that the IRS's examination of Scientology was the most exhaustive review of any non-profit organization in history.
Elsewhere, Scientology is recognized as a religion in Australia,: "After doing a thorough analysis, the [High] Court [of Australia] stated unequivocally that Scientology met the criteria establishing itself as a religion, and therefore should be granted exempt status for tax purposes. The Court went on to state that a religion did not have to be theistic, and that a religion involved both belief and behavior ... This case is still the leading case in Australia defining religion, and is cited in other courts and countries as well." Portugal, Spain,: "Un tribunal administrativo de la Audiencia Nacional de Madrid, máxima instancia judicial española, aceptó un recurso interpuesto por ese movimiento fundado en 1954 por el autor de ciencia ficción Lafayette Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), para ser inscripto en el registro de los movimientos religiosos del país.": "on March 13, 2000, the Church of Scientology was registered as a religious community by the National Judicial Board for Public Lands and Funds following a new law, titled the Act on Religious Communities ..., which took on effect on January 1, 2000, with the separation of the Church of Sweden from the state. On June 10, 2000, the first legal Scientology wedding in Europe was celebrated in Stockholm." and Kyrgyzstan.: "In the past year the State Commission on Religious Affairs (SCRA) also registered the Church of Scientology" In New Zealand, the Inland Revenue Department classified the Church of Scientology as a charitable organization and stated that its income would be tax exempt. Scientology officials have won the right to perform marriages in South Africa. In Italy, Scientology was judicially recognized as a religious denomination in 2000, when the Supreme Court held that Christian-based definitions of religion are not applicable because they would lead to the exclusion of Taoism, Buddhism, and many polytheistic, shamanistic, or animist religions.
Scientology is not recognized as a religion in Canada. In the UK, the Charity Commission for England and Wales ruled in 1999 that Scientology was not a religion and refused to register the organization as a charity, although a year later, it was recognized as a not-for-profit body in a separate proceeding by the UK Revenue and Customs and exempted from UK value added tax. In December 2013, the United Kingdom's highest court officially recognized Scientology as a religion. The ruling ended a five-year legal battle by Scientologist Louisa Hodkin, who sought the legal right to marry at the Church of Scientology chapel in central London. The opinion by five supreme court justices redefined religion in law, rendering the 1970 definition "out of date" in restricting religious worship to "reverence or veneration of God or of a Supreme Being".
In May 2008, the City of London police, senior officers of which had earlier received gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Scientology organization, unsuccessfully attempted to initiate a prosecution of a 15-year-old boy following a peaceful protest at which he held a sign reading "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult". This statement is a quote from a superior court judgement against the Scientology organization. The summons was ostensibly issued under the Public Order Act 1986. The City of London police were swiftly instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that the word "cult" was "not abusive or insulting" to the Church of Scientology. The CPS advised the force on what action or behaviour at a demonstration might be considered to be threatening, abusive or insulting. The police force was then obliged to accept that their policing of future demonstrations would reflect this advice.
Scientology as a commercial enterprise
Scientology has been accused of being "a business, often given to criminal acts, and sometimes masquerading as a religion".
In conjunction with the Church of Scientology's request to be officially recognized as a religion in Germany, around 1996 the German state Baden-Württemberg conducted an investigation of the group's activities within Germany. The results of this investigation indicated that at the time of publication, Scientology's main sources of revenue ("Haupteinnahmequellen der SO") were from course offerings and sales of their various publications. Course offerings ranged from (German Marks) DM 182.50 to about DM 30,000the equivalent today of approximately $119 to US$19,560. Revenue from monthly, bi-monthly, and other membership offerings could not be estimated in the report.
Since 1997, Germany has considered Scientology to be in conflict with the principles of the nation's constitution. It is seen as an anticonstitutional sect and a new version of political extremism and because there is "evidence for intentions against the free democratic basic order" it is observed by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In 1997, an open letter to then-German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, published as a newspaper advertisement in the International Herald Tribune, drew parallels between the "organized oppression" of Scientologists in Germany and the treatment of Jews in 1930s' Nazi Germany. The letter was signed by Dustin Hoffman, Goldie Hawn and a number of other Hollywood celebrities and executives., Washington Post, February 1, 1997Bonfante, Jordan; van Voorst, Bruce (February 10, 1997). "", Time
Commenting on the matter, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State said that Scientologists were discriminated against in Germany, but condemned the comparisons to the Nazis' treatment of Jews as extremely inappropriate, as did a United Nations Special Rapporteur. Based on the IRS exemptions, the U.S. State Department formally criticized Germany for discriminating against Scientologists and began to note Scientologists' complaints of harassment in its annual human rights reports, as well as the annual International Religious Freedom Reports it has released from 1999 onwards. Germany will continue to monitor Scientology's activities in the country, despite continued objection from Scientology which cites such monitoring as abuse of freedom of religion.
France and Belgium have not recognized Scientology as a religion, and Stephen A. Kent, writing in 2001, noted that recognition had not been obtained in Ireland, Luxembourg, Israel or Mexico either. Although the Belgian State Prosecution Service recommended that various individuals and organizations associated with Scientology should be prosecuted, the Belgian courts finally decided in March 2016 that Scientology is not a criminal organization.
In Greece, Scientology is not recognized as a religion by the Greek government, and multiple applications for religious status have been denied, notably in 2000 and 2003.
In the Netherlands, Scientology was granted tax exempt status in October 2013. The status was revoked in October 2015. The court ruled that because auditing fees and course costs were more expensive than most commercial education institutions, Scientology appeared to be aimed at making a profit.Gerechtshof Den Haag 21 October 2015, (in Dutch)