Zacchaeus Tax campaign

In July, at the UN High-level Political Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals, the World Council of Churches officially launched the Zacchaeus Tax Campaign (#ZacTax). The campaign draws on the Zacchaeus story and, in particular, his actions in paying back what he owed to argue that tax justice is not just about fair international tax systems in the present, but also about reparations for past injustices.

“Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house.” Luke 19:8,9

We often talk about the fact that repentance is not merely a matter of saying ‘sorry’, but represents a change of direction. It is not so much a ‘word’ that we say, but actions that demonstrate we are now heading on a different path. Zacchaeus demonstrates that perfectly.

It’s interesting that Jesus declaration of ‘salvation’ occurs, not when they’re eating together, but when Zacchaeus indicates the nature of his changed behaviour. In his former life, he has cheated, he has stolen, he has collaborated. No doubt many of his actions were ‘legal’, at least in regard to the Roman law of the time, but in meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus realised they were immoral, and so he makes the promise ‘I give half of my possessions to the poor’.
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As the WCC and a number of other ecumenical bodies indicate, this story works as a framework for our current international financial architecture and for how we might begin to repair that structure. 

Zacchaeus	Tax dodgers
To a large extent, acted within Roman law	​Often defend their actions as legal
Collaborated with Roman authorities	​Collaborate with current international financial system that facilitates tax dodging
Didn’t challenge Roman authorities about their use and abuse of power	Don’t challenge the current financial system as it facilitates their wealth
Used the system to cheat others out of their money	Use the system to cheat global south countries, in particular, of approximately £300bn per year
Accumulated excessive wealth through these mechanisms	​The world’s richest 1% own half the world’s wealth, often as a result of tax dodging measures
Having encountered Jesus, Zacchaeus:	Calls by the WCC:
Accepted that the way he operated had to change	For a new financial architecture which includes an end to tax dodging, and in light of climate change, the introduction of progressive green taxes.
Recognised that at least some redistribution of his wealth is required	​Introduction of a global wealth tax and financial transactions tax.
Returned to those he cheated four times what he had taken	Establishment of an enslavement reparation fund together with debt cancellation of existing international debts

In addition, recognising the fact that climate change is largely the result of the West, and yet the current burden is faced by the global south, the WCC are not only calling for progressive green taxes but that part of the reparation activities should be used to address the impact of climate change in poorer nations.
The WCC then challenge the churches specifically:

• We call on churches to discern and study the issues around just taxation and reparation for slavery and ecological debt through the lens of the covenantal relationships that God calls us into with each other and the earth.
• We urge for creative and prophetic readings of the Zacchaeus story in Luke 19:1- 10. We invite churches to embrace the good news of Zacchaeus and advocate it in their life and witness raising the issues of just taxation and reparation in their contexts.
• We encourage churches to join the Zacchaeus campaign and lobby and advocate with national governments and global financial and economic institutions for tax and reparative justice. We particularly call on young people in our churches to educate, organize and agitate around taxation and reparation.
• Finally, we call on churches to organize their finances in line with Zacchaeus principles for just taxation, sharing of resources and reparation for historical injustice.

The Zacchaeus Tax Campaign is a bold, innovative, global and ecumenical initiative that takes seriously both past and present injustices and outlines a new financial architecture to address them. At Church Action for Tax Justice, we commend it wholeheartedly.