Tax Religious Entities

[Making Chimichangas]

I think the time has come to revoke religion's tax free status and that it is wrong that religious organizations can have PACs which funnel mostly tax exempt money to candidates they want to see elected.  The link below, while older, still gives a pretty good picture as to how they operate.

 

Religious PACs

 

My belief is that paying taxes is the "entry fee" into the political arena and right now religious organizations have a lot of influence but pay almost nothing...sort of a "have your cake and eat it to" type of deal.

 

Tax church property (like taxes homeowners have to pay), tax the money they receive from members of their congregation, and tax them for funneling money into PACs.

 

The time has come to stop treating religious organizations with kid gloves.  They are every bit the profit-mongering enterprise like a Fortune 500 multi-national corporation.

[NM11046]

+1.

[zoogs]

You know who's a 501(c)(4)? The NRA. 

 

Quote

To be tax-exempt as a social welfare organization described in Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 501(c)(4), an organization must not be organized for profit and must be operated exclusively to promote social welfare. The earnings of a section 501(c)(4) organization may not inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/other-non-profits/social-welfare-organizations

 

This is bonkers. I'm a little less sold on the idea of making churches not tax-exempt. I'm very much not religious, and very critical of organized religion, but this seems punitive. 

[JJ Husker]

I agree that churches do some things with tax exempt money that probably shouldn't be allowed but I'm not sure the downside loss of all their charitable actions would be worth making them taxable. If the problem is money in politics then there are lots better places to start fixing things.

[zoogs]

Yes! I'd rather we tax the wealthy more.

[JJ Husker]

...and get money out of our political system.

[zoogs]

I misread that as "if the problem is not enough revenue".

 

I don't have a solution to the money in politics problem, although I think one side effect of much heavier taxation at the top is the moderation of the large pools of disposable cash used for lobbying arms.

Edited February 26, 2018 by zoogs

[JJ Husker]

1 hour ago, zoogs said:

I misread that as "if the problem is not enough revenue".

 

I don't have a solution to the money in politics problem, although I think one side effect of much heavier taxation at the top is the moderation of the large pools of disposable cash used for lobbying arms.

 

Yeah, donations to PACs and candidates would taper if the ultra rich had less disposable cash but it's sort of a chicken or egg scenario. As long as their money buys them favorable treatment nothing much is going to change. And it's not a problem we can blame on any one party. The both like the milk that cash cow is providing.

[Moiraine]

Start with undoing Citizens United, then work further backward from there.