How much tax revenue could be raised by taxing churches/synagogues/mosques, etc.?

[bluestateguy]

I'm just wondering why this never seems to be an option for raising revenue.

As long as tax policy is neutral in not taxing one religion more than another, why couldn't this be done?

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Well, that's when the fundies would discover and proclaim separation of church and state! n/t

[pipi_k]

2. Like it was their own idea, no less...

:7

[Donnachaidh]

3. well, then perhaps we'll have the uprising we need

And that's one of the main reasons you WON'T see it happening anytime soon.

[truedelphi]

4. I see no reason why we don't do this. n/t

[madmax]

5. I've been saying it for 35 years.

About the time I read how much property the Catholic church owned in NYC. Apartment, Office Buildings, stock - well you get the idea. Anything other than the religious building itself and the plot of real estate it's built on should be taxable. Period.

[lefthandedlefty]

6. It could be in the hundreds of billions

Just look at the size of chuches being built.They have to be making huge profit I believe they out spending banks on buildings.

[intheflow]

7. A pittance compared to what we could get if the

fucking corporations would just pay their taxes. I'd guess that 90% of churches are too small to make of a difference if required to pay taxes. Not every church, synagogue or mosque are mega-religious centers, and the majority of churches are barely surviving financially as it is, what with the newly unemployed and otherwise impoverished/sick/depressed congregants attending. As a former minister, I know that most people start going to church during crisis times in their lives, which means a lot of newcomers these days are totally stressed due to loss of job or housing, which means they have nothing to add to the collection plate. Meanwhile, churches need overhead (utilities increase rates all the time) while also spending more money on services for members and the community due to the economic downturn. It's a fallacy that most churches are raking in untold riches.

[bluestateguy]

8. We could keep charitable dedcutions

so churches could write off taxes for legitimate charitable work. I'm all for that.

[westerebus]

9. Schools and hospitals that are not for profit is one reason.

You may not like religious teaching in schools, yet these schools provide a very good education to a lot of people. Even at the upper end of the educational system, they are some of the best of the best universities in the nation.

Not for profit hospitals reduce the cost of care for many people, lower over head, cheaper administrative costs, and not paying dividend to shareholders helps.Many serve the poor in communities the for profit health care network refuse to take.

Given the two largest asset classes would be the land and buildings they occupy, taxing them would disadvantage those most likely to need their services. Inner city poor and working people already burdened with high taxes to begin with.

Now a church or temple are meeting places, so is the local VFW hall. Income is derived from the members and their activities. Which one keeps the profit and which returns that profit to the community? Soft ball leagues or community shelters?

[yurbud]

10. a Democrat proposing that is a GOP wet dream