It is currently 03/28/24 10:56 am

All times are UTC - 6 hours




  Page 1 of 1   [ 2 posts ]
Author Message
 Offline
PostPosted: 12/30/12 1:53 pm • # 1 
User avatar
Administrator

Joined: 11/07/08
Posts: 42112
VERY interesting lawsuit with HUGE stakes for churches ~ I'd love to see anything not "pastoral" or "charitable" become taxable ~ Sooz

Atheist group sues IRS for ‘discriminating against’ secular non-profits
By Eric W. Dolan
Sunday, December 30, 2012 10:50 EST

The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) has filed a lawsuit with the Internal Revenue Service, alleging that churches and religious non-profits receive unconstitutional preferential treatment unavailable to secular groups.

Tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations must file a detailed application form, fee and annual information to obtain and maintain their tax-exempt status. However, churches and other religious organizations are exempted from the requirement to file the reports and fees, which the lawsuit describes as “detailed, intrusive, and expensive.”

The FFRF alleges it is unconstitutional for the IRS to provide benefits to churches and religious organizations “while discriminating against” secular non-profit groups “solely on the basis of religious criteria.”

“The preferential treatment provided to churches and other affiliated religious organizations constitutes an exclusive and discriminatory benefit to religion in violation of the Establishment Clause, as well as the equal protection rights required by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution,” states the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Madison.

The lawsuit seeks a court order to stop the IRS “from continuing to exempt churches and other affiliated religious organizations from the application and annual information filings required of all other non-profit organizations under §501(c)(3).”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/12/30/atheist-group-sues-irs-for-discriminating-against-secular-non-profits/


Top
  
 Offline
PostPosted: 12/30/12 2:02 pm • # 2 
User avatar
Editorialist

Joined: 01/04/09
Posts: 4072
She makes a good point. I'll bet a pretty good percentage of "church" operations would be exposed as frauds if they had to document their churchiness, and show where the money goes. I'd be happy to do the paperwork for our church.


Top
  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  

  Page 1 of 1   [ 2 posts ] New Topic Add Reply

All times are UTC - 6 hours



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
© Voices or Choices.
All rights reserved.