Should Churches be Tax Exempt?

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By removing the automatic tax exemption for religious institutions from the IRS nonprofit code, one of the following two changes will take place at every religious institution:

1) They will pay their rightful taxes. This, in turn, will benefit everyone in the community by lowering the tax burden, producing more household income which taxpayers can then turn around and donate to the church of their choice. As an aside, this will also allow religious organizations to express political views, as many so desire.

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2) They will EARN their nonprofit status by performing real charity work for the community at large (note: “outreach” is not charity, but merely another word for “marketing”). Many churches are already doing this, and as long as they can prove their charitable activity in the same manner as other nonprofits, this would continue. However, the possibility of losing tax exemption would be a strong stimulus for churches that are not earning their status to step up their charity work, again helping the community at large.

Churches have been and will continue to be useful to society on the whole, and such earnest organizations should keep their rightful place beside other tax-exempt organizations that serve community and country. By eliminating the religious exemption we would implement a fair and equitable tax provision that benefits everyone except those who abuse the system or leech from it.