Should churches pay taxes--especially "mega-churches"?

[Blue_Roses]

When I think of the monstrasity of a church and it's membership like the one in Plano, Texas--which basically has a shopping center in it--I wonder how can they get by without paying taxes. What am I missing here other than simple greed and power push? I have never understood how they all can be tax-exempt.:shrug:

[YOY]

1. Only if they are politically active.

n.t.

[Hello_Kitty]

2. IOW, yes.

[Howardx]

8. why "only"

why shouldnt they be taxed the same as anyone else?

[YOY]

20. By the same tax exeptions that "not for profits" get....

Or so I have been told.

[zbdent]

22. seconded ...

[slackmaster]

3. Any organization that engages in partisan politics should pay taxes

Whether they exist for profit or not.

[barbtries]

4. they should pay taxes

when they erase the line between church and state. like say the mormons did with prop 8. consider that the taxes they don't pay put a greater burden on the rest of us, ergo, we financed that travesty?

[mmonk]

5. All political organizations should.

[bobbolink]

6. If they break the laws concerning the separation of church and state.

And DON"T change my wording to suit you. This is not a YES... it's a NO.... not unless they break the law.

[Warpy]

7. Any church that tries to outlaw what its dogma says is sin

needs to be taxed.

[gratuitous]

24. Our church's dogma says that murder is sin

And we're heavily in favor of laws against murder. I guess we should be taxed, then. We'll tell the day center for the homeless families that we give to the community free of charge that it will have to shut its doors because we can't afford to give away our property space in partial exchange for its property tax exempt status.

Well played. More folks on the streets. A few more dollars in the local tax coffers. A building that now must stand vacant most of the week. A most equitable exchange.

God, I hate these fucking threads.

[Warpy]

26. Obviously murder is injurious to other people

and that is what law is based upon, not the disapproval of some spirit world few of the people on earth agree about.

Sin in this case is the "victimless crime," where there is no victim save a person who willfully indulges in certain behaviors or the existence of a victim is a matter of opinion.

[Lance_Boyle]

9. no - churches should not be permitted to own real property

I can find no reason that real property should be needed to fulfill the supposed "spiritual needs" of churchies.

[david_vincent]

10. This is an interesting question

One of the things I find most interesting about it is that back in the "good old days" - that is, the age that Republicans are always trying to drag us back to - churches were, in fact, taxed. So for the Republicans to be logically consistent (as if they care about such things), they should be in favor of taxing churches.
I personally think it would be interesting to tax them. Not taxing them is, in my judgment, a violation of the separation of church and state.

[dbonds]

11. YES

[Bill McBlueState]

12. yes

For churches to be tax-exempt, the government has to have a definition of "church." This requires the government to take a position on what is or is not religious speech, which by itself is an excessive entanglement between church and state.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

13. There is one point to ponder, and I am not arguing with the above

posts, because I just don't know -- but if Churches are taxed in exchange for them being politically active, what would happen if the flood gates were open wide, no restriction on political activity? If you think their covert political activity is bad now!!

I think that might be a mistake, and maybe the better choice of action would be to enforce the current laws. jmho

[david_vincent]

16. Yup, that's a good point

and one well worth considering.
However, in practice I think churches will never be taxed again in this country. America has made its niche in the world as the most in-your-face religious country on Earth, as long as the religion is Christianity.

[JFN1]

14. yes.

[Historic NY]

15. Why not if they want to play in election cycles then they need to pay.

[Arugula Latte]

17. Not only yes. HELL yes.

Now, please.

[ContinentalOp]

18. Yes. No "especially" about it though. All churches should pay taxes.

Of course if they run at a loss or give all of their money to charity then they're not going to pay any taxes anyway so it's not like it should be a huge burden for them.

Or maybe there shouldn't be such a thing as a "church" for tax purposes. They should have to register as nonprofits and be held accountable to the same rules if they want to keep their tax exempt status.

[stray cat]

19. No - not unless you want to eliminate tax-exempt status for all nonprofits

[ContinentalOp]

21. Churches should have to register as nonprofits and abide by the same rules.

Problem solved.

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. Do non-profits pay property taxes?

What if property was treated only as property - church vehicles pay vehicle taxes, buildings pay property taxes - but as non-profits, they are not taxed on income (thus, not as the corporate entities that many of them are)?

[Soylent Brice]

23. it's amazing how

they can violate separation of church and state and dodge taxes.

i hate to say this but, until the law changes, no they shouldn't have to.

i personally would rather see the mega-churches fall and fade away all together.

[Initech]

25. Any politically active religious organization that has 10,000+ members absolutely should.

This includes the Mormons and Rick Warren's Saddleback Church.

To borrow a quote from Jon Stewart - "Why am I frightened when our houses of worship sound like they could take on Godzilla?"

[Dukkha]

27. Joel Osteen's church has an annual budget of $75 Million

Warren's "saddleback" church - 30 million budget
New Life Church - 12 million budget

all tax free. That doesn't include the millions they make of their books. The so-called churches are little more than political rallies.

Incidentally I was at a used book store last week and they had a stack of the Purpose Driven Live selling for $3.00 each. awwww.

[earth mom]

28. YES!!!!!

Sorry for yelling, but this is one thing that really sticks in my craw, especially because so many churches are political these days. :grr:

[anonymous171]

29. Megachurches should be taxed. Especially if they contribute directly to political causes.

Like the Mormon Church. I don't mind them telling their followers what to believe or whatever, but if they use the Church's money to influence political stuff, they should be taxed.