Should Churches Remain Tax-Exempt?

[Heywood]

Who is actually being denied this treatment? Everyone is entitled to get together with other people and pool their resources to engage in the free exercise of religion. If you choose not too, that is a choice you are making.

You completely miss my point. No other organization, corporation, individual or group of people get the special tax exemptions that apply to churches. And most galling, churches do not have to file forms with the IRS that non-profits are required to submit.

Other non religious organizations get tax exemptions so your claim there is clearly errant. The reason churches get tax exemption is because people are entitled to the free exercise of religion. They are entitled to this freedom even when they join together and pool their resources.

The power to tax is the power to destroy is a position the Supreme Court has taken for almost 200 years. You can study taxes and the their effects if you want but it is already well established that if you tax something you get less of it. In fact the government uses taxes to curb consumption of alcohol and tobacco. Taxing churches would lead to less churches. It would in effect be a governmental action which obstructs the free exercise of religion. When such obstruction is unnecessary....it is forbidden by the constitution.

Other non profits are required to fill out forms with the IRS presumably to document the fact that they are indeed not for profit. Should churches be required to document the fact that they are congregations of people pooling together their resources to engage in the exercise of religion? Well that is a completely different topic. Generally I don't think so because it is painfully obvious when people join together and pull their resources to engage in the free exercise of religion.

What kind of information would you like to see churches document? Should the pastors be required to send transcripts of their sermons to the IRS? People who donate are already required to list the name of the church they donate too if they deduct those donations from their taxes. Should churches be required to send list of their benefactors? Why? Just because other groups have to? Well to be frank....that is a silly reason.