Friday, August 23, 2013

Well It Is About Time…

To take action against non-profits that abuse their tax exempt status. The non-profit that I’m on the Board of Directors we are very careful that we do not endorse any candidate or party, we can lobby for a bill as long as we do not spend is not a “significant” amount of our income on lobbying. A “significant” portion is usually considered less than 15% of your income.

Churches are usually register as a 501(c)3 non-profit to avoid paying taxes because there is no law that don’t have to pay taxes. The separation of church and state does not mean they are exempt from taxes.
IRS faces lawsuit for failing to enforce church electioneering ban
By Eric W. Dolan
Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The Internal Revenue Service was unable to suppress a lawsuit over its failure to audit thousand of churches that allegedly violated federal tax law by engaging in partisan advocacy.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman of the Western District of Wisconsin on Monday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the Freedom From Religion Foundation against the IRS.

“If it is true that the IRS has a policy of not enforcing the prohibition on campaigning against religious organizations, then the IRS is conferring a benefit on religious organizations (the ability to participate in political campaigns) that it denies to all other 501(c)(3) organizations, including the Foundation,” Adelman wrote.
There are a number of churches that have thumb-up their noses at the non-profit rules.
In an annual event called “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” pastors from more than 1,000 churches have challenged the regulation by preaching about political topics. Some pastors even record their overtly partisan sermons and send them to the IRS…
It is time for them to call their dare and to file paperwork to strip them of their non-profit status. But the Tea Party has them running scared. Scared of accusations that they are singling out conservative religions. 

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