what does anyone think about taxing churches?

[aubiefifty 17,488]

i am torn on this one. a lot of churches stand up locally and help folks out regularly. food giveaways and that sort of thing. but now a lot of churches are meddling in politics and it makes me sick. ! if churches are preaching  for people to vote republican is this considered a violation of church and state? my personal opinion is yes i do but i am not real clear on it. i still get pissed about an old girlfriend went to church and got saved and one of the first things she said was "libs are evil" and i took it as something they were teaching. and when you have a preacher with two or three multimillion dollar mansions and a couple of private jets is it not time to tax them? i do not want to hurt smaller churches but if you want to preach i am evil without knowing me i have a problem. anyone have a take on it they would like to share?

[CoffeeTiger 5,383]

I'd be all for taxing Churches, but maybe set it as a tax that only comes into play after a certain amount of income or contributions are reached so as not to be an undue burden on smaller, cash strapped Churches. 

 

Either that or stop allowing people to claim Church contributions towards tax writeoffs.  There are Churches that do charitable work no doubt, but a lot of churches don't do any charitable work or do VERY little charitable work in relation to the amount of contributions they bring in. 

 

[jj3jordan 2,110]

On 7/8/2021 at 3:57 PM, aubiefifty said:

i am torn on this one. a lot of churches stand up locally and help folks out regularly. food giveaways and that sort of thing. but now a lot of churches are meddling in politics and it makes me sick. ! if churches are preaching  for people to vote republican is this considered a violation of church and state? my personal opinion is yes i do but i am not real clear on it. i still get pissed about an old girlfriend went to church and got saved and one of the first things she said was "libs are evil" and i took it as something they were teaching. and when you have a preacher with two or three multimillion dollar mansions and a couple of private jets is it not time to tax them? i do not want to hurt smaller churches but if you want to preach i am evil without knowing me i have a problem. anyone have a take on it they would like to share?

Your old girlfriend had a good preacher.

[DKW 86 7,603]

As big a Christian as I think I am, I tend to agree. Not all churches are ego maniacs making money, but Kenneth Copeland is worth $700M+

He needs to pay taxes.

[AUFAN78 3,972]

On 7/8/2021 at 3:57 PM, aubiefifty said:

if churches are preaching  for people to vote republican is this considered a violation of church and state?

Churches have been advocating for particular parties forever. BTW, some advocate voting for democrats fidy. 

Personally, I do not go to church to learn what party to vote for nor am not fond of the advocacy. 

[creed 1,703]

Your post is very specific concerning churches but shouldn't you be asking if all 501(c)(3) be taxed?

[creed 1,703]

5 minutes ago, creed said:

Your post is very specific concerning churches but shouldn't you be asking if all 501(c)(3)s should be taxed?

 

[DKW 86 7,603]

11 hours ago, creed said:

Your post is very specific concerning churches but shouldn't you be asking if all 501(c)(3) be taxed?

I think they need to be results tested. The United Way has for years been a national joke of bad spending of donations. they lose.
Again, look at tax records and make the call. No need to pay another BS layer of Pay for Play Watchdog Groups. The industry is littered with bogus groups already.