Revoke Tax Exemption On Churches.

[jaF0]

"For purposes of U.S. tax law, churches are considered to be public charities, also known as Section 501(c)(3) organizations. As such, they are generally exempt from federal, state, and local income and property taxes. "Exempt" means they don't have to pay these taxes. This is so even though they may earn substantial amounts of money.

Why are churches classified as charities? Because, under American tax law, charitable activity includes the advancement of religion. Atheists may not like it, but it has always been this way."

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/are-churches-always-exempt.html

We all know some churches have very large incomes, own mass amounts of high value real estate and pay large salaries or compensation to staff.


My proposal. Revoke this Tax Exemption policy.

Remove the Federal obstacle and allow state and local Governments to decide if they wish to tax churches and property. Make it a state's rights issue. They could choose to impose property and/or sales taxes

My proposal would not be to impose any Federal taxes on churches directly.

Taxes on income of church staff is discussed here, but I would remove some of the exemptions and exceptions:

https://finance.zacks.com/file-earnings-church-pays-me-6451.html

As part of this, the exemption for donations to churches would be removed. You wold not be able to duck paying income tax by donating large sums to churches.





Vote for me.


Vote Often.

 

[KinkyLaughs]

Amen! You have my vote....for this proposal that is!!

 

[KeithD]

I'd revoke the tax exemption, but I'd also stop, as the government, falling back on the churches to provide the social servicing that the government is failing to provide to its citizens and defaulting to churches. Pull their tax exemption and send them a check for all they are doing for the homeless, etc., regardless of religion.

I might add that this concept of the churches being rich isn't keeping up with the times. The pandemic has put most of them in dire financial straits (as evidenced by the National Cathedral, which has shut down because it can't financially stay open). Money isn't coming in, at least to traditional churches, but empty buildings still have to be maintained. Staffs are being cut drastically, even though most churches have managed to maintain some level of servicing via the Internet. I think that even when/if the pandemic is lifted, many fewer will be returning to the pews of mainline churches. They'll have seen they can live without that--and without opening their purses wide for religion.

 

[jaF0]

Pull their tax exemption and send them a check for all they are doing for the homeless, etc., regardless of religion.

I'm not opposed to that, but you have to be careful about endorsing one over any other.

 

[KeithD]

I'm not opposed to that, but you have to be careful about endorsing one over any other.

Oh, I'd rather that the government take back its social services responsibilities to all of its citizens, regardless of religion rather than defaulting as it has. This doesn't mean it has to take over running soup kitchens; it means it should do something about there not needing to be soup kitchens--or at least not nearly as much of the need for them than there is now.

 

[FescueFan]

Get rid of 1A first....that's your real beef, that's what you really want gone.

Good luck with that.

 

[phrodeau]

Houses of worship lobbied successfully to be allowed to reopen with greater capacities than restaurants.

No representation without taxation, I say.

 

[Gator66]

This is hardly a tax matter.

So exactly how to you propose to get around the 1st Amendment?

 

[KeithD]

So exactly how to you propose to get around the 1st Amendment?

What does taxing profits have to do with the First Amendment?

 

[Gator66]

Taxation of Churches and the First Amendment

The First Amendment provides in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, [...]"

Churches therefore aren't taxed as doing so has been found to prohibit the free exercise of religion. Bibles and other religious texts are also exempt from sales tax.