Poll: Should Churches be Taxed Less than Businesses?

Should churches be taxed less than businesses? Please explain your answer. I'm curious to see what the ATS members have to say about the topic. If this poll gets to the 2nd page I'll add my own opinion.

Churches aren't taxed at all and huge corporations don't get taxed so...

Should Churches be Taxed Less than Businesses?

Most are not "taxed" now in the U.S. as charities?

It should remain that way.

If they were "taxed", it might violate the separation of Church & State.

originally posted by: wayforward
Should churches be taxed less than businesses? Please explain your answer. I'm curious to see what the ATS members have to say about the topic. If this poll gets to the 2nd page I'll add my own opinion.

Well i pay my taxes and give money to the church.
The minister gets a cut of the money I give and pays tax on that.
A good deal of the money that I give also goes in to community projects, none go in to making more money, well in my church it doesnt.

The question is loaded though, there are some very corrupt ministries that use their money for illegitimate reasons.
To suggest all churches are the same is akin to suggesting all business is the same

I wonder why you are asking questions about the church, considering how many businesses are rorting the tax system.
Should all businesses pay the same tax rate?

There are many churches who give to the poor, take the Salvos as a prime example.

a reply to: wayforward

Churches should not be taxed. The government is supposed to stay out of religious areas, and taxing churches is not staying out. The way the Constitution is written, this seems very clear.

originally posted by: Kali74
Churches aren't taxed at all and huge corporations don't get taxed so...

I think some big corps pay.

source

I bet some don't though.

Churches are in a different "business".

No. Churches are non-profit organizations that don't charge membership fees, function off donations, and do massive amounts of charity work.

Yes, they pay their employees, and, yes, they sometimes build big buildings to house their congregations, yes, there are some that take advantage of this, but that's pretty much every non-profit in existence.

I think they should be taxed.

There should be no exceptions to the rule.

Anywhere.
Anyhow.

Churches are just a mafia that just spins bs

originally posted by: Denoli
Churches are just a mafia that just spins bs

It's all those machine guns during the sermon that give it away.

Churches shouldn't be taxed they do a lot of community work with the money they get from parishioners.

Scientology is a huge scam..er religeon that is tax exempt..figure that out, arent churches already tax exempt?

I personally believe all churches/religions should be taxed. Why not? They make money just like anybody else. I could mistaken, and maybe someone will correct me, but isn't the pastors salaries exempt from taxes to?

I feel that so long as there are religious proclamations on our money,
religions dictating policy and political candidates running on religious
support whether simply financial or through use of propaganda aimed
specifically at religious people then yes they should pay taxes.

They are a business whether they want to admit it or not, we have
a classification for organizations that wish to do charitable things
and that could also be used to cover churches that are only interested
in charity so my answer would be 95% of them yes as they are
indeed a business and the 5% who actually act as charities can
qualify for that tax free status.

I have simply seen far too much corruption from within these
organizations to ever be convinced the majority are charities.
I dunno honestly i think religion gets far far too much special
treatment from the government and respect it has not earned.

Do u know the church invests in ripping people off! They invest there money in theses payday lenders who change extortionate rates talk about burning the candle at both ends

originally posted by: beezzer
I think they should be taxed.

There should be no exceptions to the rule.

Anywhere.
Anyhow.

it's seems to be rare i disagree with you, but in this case i must.

churches should not be taxed for a couple of reasons. first and foremost most churches barely have enough money donated to stay afloat as it is. taxes would be a severe hardship on them, in fact i know many ministers that actually have other jobs as well since many churches can not even afford to pay them a living wage, they are charities after all and rely solely on what their members can afford to give, which especially in this day and age of lack of jobs or jobs that pay so low it is hard to live on. in fact i know churches that end up supporting their members with things like needed food, in this poor economy. one in particular just outside of Detroit has worked very hard to keep their members fed (through separate food donations), for a few years now since a fair portion of that congregation worked for Ford and were layed off years back.

churches are nonprofit organizations (and rarely do show any excess funds unlike other "charities"). as such they should not be taxed. churches are also charitable organizations sending money to other charitable organizations helping people around the world be it disaster relief, feeding those who are starving, caring for underprivileged kids, be it an orphanage setting or supporting them and their families. providing things like schooling to try to give underprivileged kids a chance to better themselves, where otherwise they would not receive an education and be stuck being poor and without hope the rest of their lives. not to mention medical care for those who would have to do without otherwise due to lack of funds or even lack of available care. providing clean water to people without. offering counseling to people who need it (at no charge) etc. in fact when it comes to churches unlike other so called charities much more money is actually used for what it was donated for, not things like high salaries for those in charge, or paying high priced celebrities for advertising, and advertising in general. i know when it comes to donating i tend to stick to churches and religious organizations i know since i know my money will be used properly unlike other charities (especially the bigger more popular ones) where only a tiny percentage of funds taken in are actually used for the purpose it was donated for. not to mention there are nefarious organizations like the bill gates foundation which is just a cover for culling the "overpopulation" in the world, rather hard to trust non religious organizations because of things like that.

but hey for those that feel the church should pay taxes, then ALL "charities" should be required to do the same. as for big business they should be required to pay their fair share of taxes, unlike now where there are so many tax exemptions that they don't even come close to paying their fair share. things like building upgrades and maintenance (which seems to be why a few gas stations i know seem to be rebuilt every couple of years), or paying sponsorships for sports and other events, as tax write offs.

originally posted by: AnIntellectualRedneck
No. Churches are non-profit organizations that don't charge membership fees, function off donations, and do massive amounts of charity work.

Yes, they pay their employees, and, yes, they sometimes build big buildings to house their congregations, yes, there are some that take advantage of this, but that's pretty much every non-profit in existence.

If a house of worship was only limiting themselves to this then you would hear no argument on my part.

originally posted by: LadyGreenEyes
a reply to: wayforward

Churches should not be taxed. The government is supposed to stay out of religious areas, and taxing churches is not staying out. The way the Constitution is written, this seems very clear.

I'm on the fence with that claim. The separation of church and state only goes so far as to theoretically prevent the nation from instilling a state sanctioned religion. I am unsure as to whether their power of tax collection is inhibited so long as all religious institutions were targeted equally.


As far as my opinion: Yes, religious institutions should be taxed, but only on the dollars that are not earned via the collection plate. Any and all dollars earned from bake sales, child care centers, private school tuition, renting out the church for a wedding or reception, funeral, or rummage sales, silent auctions and any other conceivable way they line their pockets with tax-free dollars should be fair game.

The original concept of religion is something I can stand and it is still alive in small towns across America. Small congregations, intimate places of worship and an overall feeling of simplicity and modesty. However if you recall Jesus's opinion of money changers, the prideful and gluttons, then I'm pretty sure he's rolling over in his grave over the notion of gilded Mega Churches and preachers driving pink
Cadillacs.

originally posted by: generik
but hey for those that feel the church should pay taxes, then ALL "charities" should be required to do the same. as for big business they should be required to pay their fair share of taxes, unlike now where there are so many tax exemptions that they don't even come close to paying their fair share. things like building upgrades and maintenance (which seems to be why a few gas stations i know seem to be rebuilt every couple of years), or paying sponsorships for sports and other events, as tax write offs.

This is me agreeing with everything you posted 150%

a reply to: wayforward
Is there a one-size-fits-all answer? I don't know.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries purchased some significant properties to house its "complex" on... Later...decided to see if there was OIL on it...and - Boom! How Good God Is!
So - with tax-exempt donations - they purchased lands...and on those lands, wild-catted a well...
Well - good for them.
Wish I/we/the-rest-of-us could get tax-free donations to do the same.

ETA: I work in the O&G industry... There are so many "Religious" institutions that play the Petro-Dollar game, it isn't even funny. And - they all (Most) get the banks to do the 'dirty work' for them...

originally posted by: Lipton
...if you recall Jesus's opinion of money changers, the prideful and gluttons, then I'm pretty sure he's rolling over in his grave over the notion of gilded Mega Churches and preachers driving pink Cadillacs. ...

Had to give you a star for that line...alone.

originally posted by: bloodreviara

They are a business whether they want to admit it or not, we have
a classification for organizations that wish to do charitable things
and that could also be used to cover churches that are only interested
in charity so my answer would be 95% of them yes as they are
indeed a business and the 5% who actually act as charities can
qualify for that tax free status.

I have simply seen far too much corruption from within these
organizations to ever be convinced the majority are charities.

first off i think you accidentally confused your percentages, from my experience yes there are a few churches that act like businesses but most are barely rich enough to keep afloat. and those churches that act as for profit businesses get nailed when caught since they are being fraudulent.

personally there is more corruption within non-religious charities than with the religious ones, where barely any donated money actually makes it to those needing the help due to things like high paid workers, advertising etc, as well as corruption. THOSE are what need to be dealt with, not churches, and religious charities (unless of course they are acting in that manor themselves).

I dunno honestly i think religion gets far far too much special
treatment from the government and respect it has not earned.

what special treatment? i certainly haven't seen any, more like the opposite actually.
respect? what have other non-profit organizations done to earn respect? things that the church does not do?

originally posted by: WanDash
a reply to: wayforward
Is there a one-size-fits-all answer? I don't know.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries purchased some significant properties to house its "complex" on... Later...decided to see if there was OIL on it...and - Boom! How Good God Is!
So - with tax-exempt donations - they purchased lands...and on those lands, wild-catted a well...
Well - good for them.
Wish I/we/the-rest-of-us could get tax-free donations to do the same.

ETA: I work in the O&G industry... There are so many "Religious" institutions that play the Petro-Dollar game, it isn't even funny. And - they all (Most) get the banks to do the 'dirty work' for them...

and I bet they are paying taxes of the income earned, if they are not then its an issue that needs to be sorted out.

Money given should not be taxed