Should Churches be Tax Exempt?

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Contrary to popular opinion, nothing in the Constitution of the United States requires houses of worship to be tax exempt. The concept is not mentioned at all in that document. Tax exemption for religious bodies has a long lineage in the West, stretching back at least as far as the Roman Empire. When the empire was Christianized in the Fourth Century, the exemption was transferred from Pagan temples to Christian churches.

The practice continued on through the Middle Ages and eventually reached the United States through our European roots. It has not been seriously questioned often, although in a 1970 case, Walz v. Tax Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tax exemption is not required but went on to say that extending it to houses of worship is not a violation of the First Amendment. The court reasoned that the form of subsidy offered is indirect and is extended to religious and non-religious entities alike (hospitals, libraries, museums, charities, etc.)

So we can tax churches and balance the budget, right? Not so fast. Public sentiment for taxing houses of worship has never been high, and anyone who proposed it would likely be tilting at windmills. Some battles are not worth fighting. This is one of them.