Why are churches tax exempt? I don't need to hear about government taking over religion. I need to know HOW they get away with this?

So technically ... those churches that are in the media proclaiming they will shelter illegals, could have their tax-exempt status revoked.

That is a separate issue.  I don't care what their reasons are.  They need to pay taxes like everyone else.  Period.

Housing illegals or whatever you think you are charging them with, is an issue that can be dealt with by asking for donations for whatever cause they claim.  The people in the congregation who donate financially can claim the deductions on THEIR taxes.

You don't get to ride the wave for free just because you have a specific take on God that other people agree with.   Billions are just excused.  We need the money.  They don't.  They don't do anything with it.

Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.


This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at March 22, 2018 3:12 AM MDT

I believe it's also a holdover from medieval times.
The kings seldom taxed over 10% ... because if 10% was good enough for god, who were they to ask for more?
(too bad government doesn't think that way, any more.  LOL)

I've also pointed out in the past, that if churches were using all that money for "good works" they wouldn't have multi-million-dollar buildings.  How many people could have been helped by the funds that went into building the Crystal Cathedral, for instance?
I mean, they are spending 6 years and $2million to renovate the organ.

btw - one of my favorite songs is Ray Stevens' "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex".

JacobA did cite the basic reason:  The official reason in the US is that churches are 'Pro Bono' organizations that benefit society. 

Why and how that is determined and supported and by which criteria I will leave for you to research and decide whether that is an acceptable reason in your opinion.

I am not invested in the general issue.

Edit: Because the brief research I conducted before posting on this topic was tedious and and tiring. This post was edited by tom jackson at March 23, 2018 6:13 PM MDT

SO?   It needs to be abolished.

Why ask why when you have no interest in knowing why?  

The churches are hardly controlled.   Unless you are speaking of the pockets that are getting lined. 

Political speech has been illegal since the 1950s because LBJ did not want them opposing him. It is called the Johnson rule....churches can loose their tax exempt status if the are found in violation of it. Perfect example of using tax code to control. 

If it happened in the 1950s, it wasn't LBJ. Blame Eisenhower/Nixon. LBJ didn't become Veep until 1961, wasn't Prez until 1963.

It was passed in 1954 when Johnson was a Senator. 

House minority with no power other than a single vote.

Yet, it is named after him. "The Johnson Amendment"

You see, SBF, Republicans are not always devils and Democrats are not always angels.

Of course not, before Obama the last good President who was also a decent human being was a Republican. Eisenhower. Lincoln was also a Republican. Today's GOP wouldn't accept Ike or Abe, both too "liberal" for a party that has shifted to the right of Mussolini.
Since Eisenhower, you've had JFK (serial philanderer, despite having a stunning wife), Johnson (war monger), Nixon (crook), Ford (nice guy but weak President), Carter (ditto), Reagan (armed terrorists), Bush 1 (read my lips), Slick Willy (I did not have sexual relations with that woman) and Bush 2 (GFC and thick as a brick).

Fair enough.  I meant religions. 

Religions are not tax exempt, they are outside the government's jurisdiction. 501C3 corporations are tax exempt because they were created for that purpose.