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Some preachers participated in a political protest against the IRS on Sunday.  

Dozens of pastors across the country took politics to the pulpit yesterday in hopes of influencing the Nov. 4 presidential election and setting off a legal fight over the Internal Revenue Service’s restrictions on church involvement in politics.  Pastors take politics to the pulpit.

The pastors were protesting the IRS prohibition against overt political campaigning by non-profit groups, such as churches. When a pastor explicitly endorses a political candidate during a church service, it is in express violation of the IRS requirements for non-profits. 

The protesting preachers are framing this as an issue of freedom of religious expression. 

   
Drake asked his congregation to support the challenge to the federal ban on political campaigning by nonprofit groups.

“I am angry because the government and the IRS and some Christians have taken away the rights of pastors,” Drake said to about 45 people at his service. “I have a right to endorse anybody I doggone well please. And if they don’t like that, too bad.” Pastors take politics to the pulpit. 

The real issue is the tax status of churches. Pastors and churches are free to endorse any candidates they choose. However, if the churches claim non-profit tax status, IRS regulations prohibit endorsement of particular political candidates. The practical solution for those preachers who want to endorse particular political candidates is to surrender their tax exempt status.

In an earlier post I asked this question. ”What is the difference between legal and illegal actions by religious organizations with tax-exempt status?” I quoted several sections of the IRS Tax Guide. One paragraph makes clear what Pastor Drake was protesting.  Does Religious Authority Override Secular Authority?

Individual Activity by Religious Leaders

The political campaign activity prohibition is not intended to restrict free expression on political matters by leaders of churches or religious organizations speaking for themselves, as individuals. Nor are leaders prohibited from speaking about important issues of public policy. However, for their organizations to remain tax exempt under IRC section 501(c)(3), religious leaders cannot make partisan comments in official organization publications or at official church functions. To avoid potential attribution of their comments outside of church functions and publications, religious leaders who speak or write in their individual capacity are encouraged to clearly indicate that their comments are personal and not intended to represent the views of the organization.  IRS “Tax Guide For Churches And Religious Organizations”

The pastors engaged in this protest are deliberately challenging this IRS requirement.

Because the pastors were speaking in their official capacity as clergy, the sermons are clear violations of IRS rules, said Robert Tuttle, a professor of law and religion at George Washington University. But even if the IRS rises to the bait and a legal fight ensues, Tuttle said there’s “virtually no chance” courts will strike down the prohibition.

“The government is allowed, as long as it has a reasonable basis for doing it, to treat political and nonpolitical speech differently, and that’s essentially what it’s done here,” Tuttle said.

Under the IRS code, places of worship can distribute voters guides, run nonpartisan voter registration drives and hold forums on issues, among other things. But they cannot endorse a candidate, and their political activity cannot be biased for or against a candidate, directly or indirectly – a sometimes murky line. Pastors take politics to the pulpit. 

This protest raises an even more important issue in the relationship between religion and politics.  

Why should churches be tax exempt in the first place? Tax exemption for churches is a complicated issue, with many facets. Taxation itself is a complicated issue. But if we start with the premise that the government has a right to tax anyone and everything—a premise that deserves debate—tax exemption for one group means more taxes for others. If religious groups are tax exempt, the rest of society has to make up the difference. 

Religious exemptions from taxation is no trivial matter. It is estimated that churches and other religious bodies may own anywhere between twenty and twenty-five percent of all of the land in the United States. This represents a huge portion of the possible tax base and billions of dollars in potential revenue which could be used to fund schools and other portions of the social infrastructure upon which the churches depend, just like the rest of us. The assets of the Roman Catholic church alone exceed those of the five largest American corporations combined and cash donations to churches total tens of billions of dollars every year.

Every dollar not paid by churches or other religious organizations must be made up from some other source. When all tax exemptions are taken into account, it is estimated that the average family may pay up to $1,000 in extra taxes every year to make up for the lost revenue not received from churches and religious groups. This includes sales taxes, inheritance taxes, income taxes, personal taxes, and ad valorem taxes.

It is thus arguable that all of this money represents an indirect contribution to all of those religious organizations. Because taxes which would go to pay for their share of maintaining society are made up for by the rest of us, they are free to use that money in other ways, for example promulgating their message to a wider audience. They certainly have a right to spread their ideas wherever they wish, but do they also have a right to public assistance in doing so? We have, then, two inter-related objections to religious tax exemptions: they represent a huge amount of money which must be made up by everyone else, and filling that gap may constitute indirect subsidies paid by the public to religious institutions in violation of the separation of church and state.  Why Taxation of Religion Matters

The reality of taxation in the United States is that tax exemption is a privilege granted by the IRS rather than a right granted by the Constitution. Churches are automatically granted tax exempt status that other non-profit organizations must qualify to receive. However, the same tax code that allows tax exempt status to churches allows the IRS to take tax exempt status away from religious groups that violate the IRS regulations. 

So the choice for the protesting preachers is this: maintain your tax exempt status by abiding by IRS regulations against endorsing particular candidates or surrender your tax exempt status and endorse whatever candidate you choose. 

Dr. Kalinda Rose Stevenson

Going Broke With Jesus identifies untrue “myths” about what Jesus taught about money. Discover the difference between heroic stories about money and morality tales in Going Broke With Jesus: How Heroic Stories Intended To Liberate The Poor Become Biblical Urban Legends About The Evils Of Money. 

written by Kalinda \\ tags: Internal Revenue Service, IRS, non-profit, pastors endorse candidates, political, political action by churches, tax exempt status, tax exemption for churches, taxation