Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mark Michicich on December 8, 2011 at 8:09pm

I agree it would be political suicide.  Still I wish politicians were sincere when they say they are worried about the deficit and every potential solution should be on the table.  I wonder how much real estate is owned by religious organizations, and if taxed at the same rate as everyone else, how much would that total.  

Permalink Reply by Ben Cundiff on December 8, 2011 at 1:02am

From what I understand, IRS tax code gives certain "501c" organizations tax-exempt status as long as the organization meets certain qualifications about being nonprofit, using the money within a certain amount of efficiency, etc. USC 501(c)(3) lists the most common types of exempt organizations, including religious organizations and organizations devoted to promoting social welfare.

On paper, churches are held to the same standard as any nonprofit organization, but I highly doubt that the people evaluating religious nonprofit organizations' tax forms show the same scrutiny towards churches that they do to nonreligious organizations. I'd imagine most churches' 501c forms are more or less automatically approved.

Here's a bit about the tax law in question:
Plain English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501%28c%29
IRS tax law: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/26/501%28c%29.html

Permalink Reply by Mark Michicich on December 8, 2011 at 8:20pm

Ben, thanks for the links!  I'll check them out.