Any organization that meets the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is automatically considered tax-exempt. The church is a charitable organization since it depends on donors. The first Amendment-based concern prevents the government from involving itself with religion. Religious entities should remain tax exempted to allow people to exercise their right to freedom as guaranteed by the constitution.
The government is mandated to treat religious nonbelievers and believers equally. Therefore, allowing the churches to be tax exempted translates to funding their property regardless of whether it shares or supports their beliefs. Unfortunately, the freedom from tax payment has given room for financial misuse of assets and fraud in religious institutions. The churches’ lack of a tax filing process has encouraged fraudulent activities.
Summary of Controversy
Many people believe that every entity should pay taxes, including the church. Even though churches do not profit like other organizations, they receive money and revenue donations. Furthermore, religious freedom does not mean they should be tax exempted. This argument makes most people agree that churches should pay for their duties. Others disagree that churches have the right to be tax-free on property. This privilege may, however, cause several problems since any organization can proclaim itself as religious to enjoy the benefits; they should not that include receiving the desired property with tax exemption paybacks (Lethbridge 2021).
Many churches possess extensive agricultural lands and real estate, and they stand the benefits of enjoying services that involve roads and protection from fire, among others, for free. At this rate, most people in the community propose that the entities are able and should pay taxes. The wealth possessed by some religious leaders means that the basilicas can start contributing to the state and federal government resources they utilize. It is, therefore, appropriate for churches to pay taxes like other organizations.
Why Churches Should Not be Tax-exempted
Tax exemption on churches is not justified since they serve a religious purpose that does not help the government. This exception is vindicated to non-profit entities that include homeless shelters and hospitals, since they do work that would be done by the regime. The main activity of religious places is to worship and instruct people about good morals. The government of the United States has been prevented from performing this duty (TOSUN 615). It is a privilege but not a constitutional right to be tax-exempt, violating the church and state separation.
It is difficult to distinguish between fraudulent start-ups and authentic religions. This action makes the government lose much revenue during tough economic times since some entities aim at profit-making in disguise as a church. Individuals benefit from the activity, particularly the leaders who urge their followers to donate to them and not contribute anything to the authorities. Historically, the church has been categorized as a non-profit organization that works for the common good (Batalla et al. 197).
However, this has yet to be the case in the present days since many religious leaders dine with billionaires of this world. They portray the wealthiest men in the world who enjoy tax-free salaries from their donors. A majority of them own private jets and have sprawling mansions. Their lifestyles are lavish and funded by these churches portraying that they carry out the businesses to earn monies.
Just like any other organization, the church should play a role in providing support to the government. They can continue to perform charitable works afterward if they want. Other entities pay the authorities their taxes and still give mutual aid and charity to the surrounding society (Batalla et al. 197). The task of paying taxes and helping people are exclusively mutual; hence, it should be performed by every organization that makes money regardless of other duties in a country.
Churches must pay taxes because this contribution is beneficial to the entire community. An organization that claims to be for the people should participate in the common good and build together a healthy society financially. If they do not pay their taxes, they put a country on the piling of burdens instead of helping to lift them. The religion claims to emulate Jesus according to the Bible. Jesus Christ managed to feed the hungry, mourn with the grieved, and heal the sick while paying taxes (ESV Bible, Mat 17: 26). It is not an excuse for the church leaders not to perform the noble duty of giving to Ceaser what belongs to them (ESV Bible, Luke 20: 22, 25).
It is unfair for the government to exempt religious groups from paying taxes because this marginalizes some other groups, including LGBTQ and atheists (TOSUN 620). These other clusters deserve the same treatment since they all belong to the same citizenship and share equal rights.
Refutation of Opposing Arguments
However, it can be termed double taxation if a church is taxed without monetary gain to the members. Well-wishers may be discouraged from devoting the money, energy, and time they give to the organizations. The small churches hardly benefit from the tithes and offerings from their members because they concentrate more on building the places of worship (Kelley et al. 2018). It would be unfair to tax them because they do not benefit financially from the contributions. The vulnerable groups, including the disadvantaged and the poor, that rely on assistance from the churches might suffer if churches lose tax-exempt status.
The U.S. Supreme Court states that this exception is not a subsidy instead, but it is constitutional (Zhang 2022). The church offers numerous services to society, particularly domestic violence victims, shelters for the homeless, and afterschool programs for poor children. The church programs will risk closure if they default on their payments. There will be a violation of the free expression of worship because the government will be empowered to shut them down or penalize them. Most religious entities refrain from political campaigns; therefore, the few who engage in politics should not force the authorities to punish all.
Conclusion
The main aim of a religion is to raise a morally upright society. The exemption of tax may prevent the core duty of the church to condemn political leaders who commit wrongs. It deters the pastors’ freedom to speak out against partisan candidates who support the entities with chunks of money. These funds finance the lavish lifestyles of many elders, and they might fear losing their good lives and becoming poor. It is only fair for governments to abolish the tax exemption for churches since it is a false perception that the church contributes well to the community. Nowadays, the monies are misused, and the gospel ministers are enabled to sin by the wealth they have acquired from the places of worship.
Works Cited
Batalla, Eric Vincent, And Rito Baring. “Church-State Separation and Challenging Issues Concerning Religion.” Religions, vol. 10, no. 3, 2019, pp. 197. Web.
Kelley, Dean M., and Roger Morris. “Why Churches Should Not Pay Taxes.” Web.
MacArthur, John. The Macarthur Study Bible: English Standard Version. Thomas Nelson, 2021. Web.
TOSUN, Ayşe Nil. “Tax Exemptions For Religious Organizations: The United States, The European Union, and Turkey.” Hacettepe Üniversitesi İktisadi Ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, vol. 38, no. 3, 2020, pp. 609-628. Web.
Zhang, Alex. “Antidiscrimination and Tax Exemption.” Cornell Law Review, vol. 107, 2022. Web.