501c3 and Tax Exemption

[_Who Knows]

I still wonder how the LDS Church gets past that "attempting to influence legislation" clause of the tax exempt law.

Because it's not a 'substantial part' of its activities:

...it may not be an action organization, i.e., it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities...

[_Gazelam]

Some Schmuck,

Don't these people understand separation of church and state?

That rule only applies to the fact that there can't be a government mandated church. It doesn't mean that there can't be any religion in government.

[_TAK]

Last year Americans gave a record $302,000,000,000 to charity. That equates to roughly about $100,000,000,000 in taxes give or take some. I do not know how much of that went to religion but I am sure it was a large part of it.

Thanks for proving my point.
Considering a small portion most likley ever helped the poor and needy, all of our taxes are higher to make up for the loss of that much in taxes.

[_Jason Bourne]

Last year Americans gave a record $302,000,000,000 to charity. That equates to roughly about $100,000,000,000 in taxes give or take some. I do not know how much of that went to religion but I am sure it was a large part of it.

Thanks for proving my point.

And what point was that?

Considering a small portion most likley ever helped the poor and needy, all of our taxes are higher to make up for the loss of that much in taxes.

Really? I think you don't have a clue of what went where to help whom. Most charities put a significant amount of their donations to whatever their stated causes are. Not all charities though are set up to assist the poor. Some fight cancer or heart disease. The causes these charities espouse are numerous. But some do assist the poor. But if you feel this way don't donate to charity or of you do don't deduct it on your tax return.

And one other point, it seems fairly certain that it is worth 100 Billion in taxes in order to facilitate charities doing what they do as a dollar spent there goes much further than a dollar taxed and redistributed through a government bureaucracy.

As for your taxes being higher, maybe and maybe not. A better place to get tax revenue is in the unreported income that happens to the tune of about 600 Billion in taxes every year. Another quick revenue raiser if you want to be fair is to disallow home mortgage interest which costs far more in tax revenue than charity does by far.

[_Some Schmo]

Some Schmuck,

Ooo, clever. Did you just come up with that all by yourself?

Don't these people understand separation of church and state?

That rule only applies to the fact that there can't be a government mandated church. It doesn't mean that there can't be any religion in government.

Oh really. Did you just come up with that all by yourself?

Oh wait. I'm talking to a nimrod who thinks Joseph Smith was a prophet. What difference does it make?

[_TAK]

As for your taxes being higher, maybe and maybe not. A better place to get tax revenue is in the unreported income that happens to the tune of about 600 Billion in taxes every year. Another quick revenue raiser if you want to be fair is to disallow home mortgage interest which costs far more in tax revenue than charity does by far.

No maybe about it..

I have no problem with the second suggestion.. But subsidizing religions so they can fund internal growth, building bigger better buildings is BS. Its nothing more than a poor mans country club with screwy rules. Hell lets throw the child deductions out the window too!

I don’t really care about mortgage deductions but I would imagine taking that away would make the current economic collapse look like bake sale in the falling housing prices to 1/2 or more.

[_Some Schmo]

Given the crap load of money being raked in, it could help balance the budget and pay down the deficit.

Be careful not to equate all churches with the behemoth that is the LDS church. There are many small churches who rely on the meager donations given by the parishioners. I wouldn't wish taxation on these already humble churches.

I wouldn't not want to tax them just because they're small churches though. I don't see why they should be exempt from taxes any more than a very small business should.

[_Jason Bourne]

No maybe about it..

I have no problem with the second suggestion.. But subsidizing religions so they can fund internal growth, building bigger better buildings is BS. Its nothing more than a poor mans country club with screwy rules. Hell lets throw the child deductions out the window too!

You just don't like this because you don't like religion. Unfortunately for you those that write the laws feel differently than you do and apparently they believe society benefits from church's being tax exempt. And of course they also know that many who vote for them feel the same way.

But as noted you can also write your political leaders and attempt to change their mind.

[_TAK]

You just don't like this because you don't like religion. Unfortunately for you those that write the laws feel differently than you do and apparently they believe society benefits from church's being tax exempt. And of course they also know that many who vote for them feel the same way.

But as noted you can also write your political leaders and attempt to change their mind.

Its not a question of disliking religion, its that I do not think I should have to subsidize it and I get to bitch about it when the topic comes up.
That will be my contribution to change.

[_harmony]

Its not a question of disliking religion, its that I do not think I should have to subsidize it and I get to bitch about it when the topic comes up.
That will be my contribution to change.

If you want to gripe about federal subsidies, maybe you could take on some of the big ones: big business, foreign countries, and farmers. Churches are small potatoes in comparison, I suspect.