Tax the Churches

[wxtornado]

So my wife is watching Oprah yesterday, and I see her buddy Tom Cruise on there, you know, the guy who funds one of the most dangerous cults in our society. Anyway, we start discussing religion, and the subject of tax-exemption for churches comes up. Discuss. Why do churches have a tax-exemption status anyway? I will google this topic just to get educated on it.

[Gwydion]

Out of curiosity, why do you feel that Scientology is "one of the most dangerous cults in our society?"

Surely that is an exaggeration.

[baileydog]

Tom Cruise sucks and churches claim their money all comes from donations. From some of the churches Ive seen, thats some good donations.

[itsbob (Premo)]

Originally Posted by baileydog

Tom Cruise sucks and churches claim their money all comes from donations. From some of the churches Ive seen, thats some good donations.

They (churches as a whole) also have billions in dollars of investments, billions of dollars of real Estate, own entire companies etc etc..

And as far as I know, under the veil of religion, it's all bought, sold and invested tax free.

[This_person]

Originally Posted by wxtornado

So my wife is watching Oprah yesterday, and I see her buddy Tom Cruise on there, you know, the guy who funds one of the most dangerous cults in our society. Anyway, we start discussing religion, and the subject of tax-exemption for churches comes up. Discuss. Why do churches have a tax-exemption status anyway? I will google this topic just to get educated on it.

IMO, it is because of the charitable works they do. They provide a series of services that are invaluable to society. Since virtually every religion gets the status, and so many other charitable service also get it, it seems appropriate to me. Basically, there need either be this granted to churches, or nobody.

[itsbob (Premo)]

Originally Posted by This_person

IMO, it is because of the charitable works they do. They provide a series of services that are invaluable to society. Since virtually every religion gets the status, and so many other charitable service also get it, it seems appropriate to me. Basically, there need either be this granted to churches, or nobody.

If there were true seperation of church and state, I would think that would mean no preferential treatment, and be treated just as any other business would be.

Microsoft does much more charitable work than probably 80% of the churches, should they be given a tax free status too?

[This_person]

Originally Posted by itsbob

If there were true seperation of church and state, I would think that would mean no preferential treatment, and be treated just as any other business would be.

No religion, nor lack thereof, is treated preferentially. That was the point of saying they ALL get tax-free status. Were they a business, they would be treated as such. Those religions that begin to act as a "for profit" business do risk losing their tax free status. For example, the constant talks about the churches that allow politicians to speak, or the LDS church about 20+ years ago and their "investments", etc. There are pretty strict guidelines.

Microsoft does much more charitable work than probably 80% of the churches, should they be given a tax free status too?

Well, those actions are given a tax free status. Deductions, just like the ones you take on your taxes. However, they're taxed on their profit-side.

[blacklabman]

All charitable organizatons that meet the tax code requirements are not taxed on donations. It has nothing to do with the so called "separation of church and state". However I do believe that all investment income should be taxed, whether acharitable organization or not.

[This_person]

Originally Posted by blacklabman

All charitable organizatons that meet the tax code requirements are not taxed on donations. It has nothing to do with the so called "separation of church and state". However I do believe that all investment income should be taxed, whether acharitable organization or not.

Reasonable assertion.

[Bruzilla]

Like most early American policies, the reason that churches are not taxed relates to actions taken by the English. The English government levied tarriffs and taxes on the Catholic and Protestant churches in order to try to get them to close up so the Anglican Church, the King's church, would be the only church left. Prohibiting the taxation of churches meant that American politicans would not be able to use taxation as a means to attack a church they didn't want around.