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Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Law - "A Taxing Issue: What to Render Unto Whom?"
A timely article today ($$$) on the front page of the Marketplace section of the Wall Street Journal, given the interest in this issue evidenced by members of the 2008 General Assembly. Suzanne Sataline reports:
With expansion-minded churches managing real-estate portfolios, sports centers and even shopping malls, religious leaders are increasingly getting unwelcome visits from tax collectors.Local government officials say they are levying taxes because churches are running businesses that don't have a charitable mission. At a time of greater federal scrutiny of religious finance, these efforts are targeting fast-growing Protestant megachurches and television evangelists, as well as established Catholic and Jewish congregations. Church leaders counter that they aren't trying to turn a profit but find entrepreneurial ways to serve the poor and the faithful.
These ventures are a far cry from bingo. In 2004, Christ Chapel Community Church in Macon, Ga., paid $6 million for SportsTowne, an athletic club offering tennis, basketball, and roller hockey for a fee. On the weekend, church members set up seats for 1,000 worshipers. * * *
By longstanding tradition, state laws exempt properties used for religious or charitable purposes -- or for operations, such as church parking lots, that aid that mission. But the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that taxing bodies aren't required to give religious exemptions.
Tax officials and church leaders say assessments have accelerated over the past several years, leading to sometimes lengthy disputes and, in some case, court fights. Congress has also been interested in some churches' expansive bent. Late last year, the Senate Finance Committee asked six televangelists with large operations to share extensive financial data, seeking to determine, among other things, whether they had strayed outside their nonprofit mission.
The changing nature of churches "forces both courts and agencies and tax commissioners to decide what's a religious or charitable use," says John Witte Jr., director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University in Atlanta.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 2, 2008 06:55 AM
Posted to General Law Related