Should Churches Pay Taxes?

Terminated said:
Do you think Churches should be required to pay taxes? Why or why not?
Click to expand...
They should just follows taxation laws just like everyone elses. However I believe a number of them are non-profit therefore they don't have to pay any taxes since a profit isn't made at any periods.
 
Demon_skeith said:
Depends on the church, I don't think they all go for non-profit actions.
Click to expand...
Agreed if they aren't of non profit nature they should be paying just like Amazon should be (in most cases, Amazon in 2019 actually didn't turn a cent in profit so they were able to legally and ethically spared being taxed).
 
Yes. Churches abuse the money they get in "tithes". Most do not use it to help the poor or donate it. Religious Missions turn into family vacations. Because of this, most churches are violating the Lemon Test and Establishment Clause therefore they should be forced to pay. I think the US government needs to make the church system pay up.

Religious organizations across the United States have received at least $7.3 billion in forgivable government loans from the Paycheck Protection Program. The top loan recipients are, of course, of the majority religion. Megachurches with outspoken Trump-supporting pastors have received millions of dollars in loans, and churches tied to sexual abuse and financial scandals also took advantage of the free money.

This is a clear violation of the Lemon Test and of the Establishment Clause. The grants given to churches obviously do not have a clearly secular purpose, so it fails the first part of the test. The handouts advance the interests of the religious organizations that receive them, and I’m not sure how anyone could argue that the aid does not create unnecessary entanglement between church and state.
Click to expand...
antidote.substack.com

It’s Time for Churches to Pay Taxes

Religious institutions in the U.S. have chosen capitalism over Christ, and we must tax them accordingly.
antidote.substack.com antidote.substack.com
263fcd3ab5179d45d2a8452d3a9430040a250c6d.jpeg
 
I suppose they should if by law they had to. The majority of churches by law don't have to pay taxes and just because they may be making money on donations, doesn't mean they're required. However it really comes down to the law because everyone is expected to follow the law.
 
The tax church movement is more of an anti-religion / atheist thing than a legitimate source of getting income. Churches operate as a non-profit organizations just like the Salvation Army and Goodwill. The main focus and target of this anger are towards these so-called megachurches, which are actually fewer than what people believe.

Heck in my city there's a church inside an old store.
 
Yes, I don't see why any religious organisation should be exempt from taxes, to be honest. But like Empire mentioned near the top, they should probably focus on the big corporations not paying enough tax first (Amazon, Google etc.)
 
Whenever one entity is exempt, others pay. So really, there is no such thing as exemption, when another takes the burden. If the justification for the exemption is charity, then give credit to charity organizations but still tax churches. I don't understand the concern is that churches would want representation, they already have tax exemption and freedom to practice religion even without paying taxes, what more would they want?
 
Empire said:
The tax church movement is more of an anti-religion / atheist thing than a legitimate source of getting income. Churches operate as a non-profit organizations just like the Salvation Army and Goodwill.
Click to expand...

Do they all though, I think there are a lot of churches that are far from non-profit and a lot of preachers/pastors/priests/whatever-they-are-called who are making a LOT of money.

Yes, that isn't the case for the more 'traditional' churches, but it does seem to be the case in a lot of others.

Disclaimer: I am an atheist and believe that organised religion is responsible for more cruelty, hatred, and bloodshed throughout history than anything else, but still strongly support everybody's freedom to believe in whatever they choose to.
 
Back
Top