As governments struggle to raise revenues, ostensibly to satisfy services demanded by the Customer, a question surfaces. “Should churches remain tax exempt?” This Website wrestles with that issue.

“US churches* received an official federal income tax exemption in 1894, and they have been unofficially tax-exempt since the country’s founding. All 50 US states and the District of Columbia exempt churches from paying property tax. Donations to churches are tax-deductible. The debate continues over whether or not these tax benefits should be retained.

“Proponents argue that a tax exemption keeps the government out of church finances and thus upholds the separation of church and state. They say that churches deserve a tax break because they provide crucial social services, and that 200 years of church tax exemptions have not turned America into a theocracy.

“Opponents argue that giving churches special tax exemptions violates the separation of church and state, and that tax exemptions are a privilege, not a constitutional right. They say that in tough economic times the government cannot afford what amounts to a subsidy worth billions of dollars every year.

Read more here.

*Churches and Taxes ProCon.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit website that presents facts, studies, and pro and con statements related to tax exemptions for houses of worship which we, like the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), broadly reference as “churches.” The IRS Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations (5.1 MB)  (publication 1828 (11-2009) Catalog Number 21096G), [1] uses the term church “in its generic sense as a place of worship including, for example, mosques and synagogues,” as well as “conventions and associations of churches [and] integrated auxiliaries of a church.” The IRS distinguishes “churches” from “religious organizations,” which are defined as “nondenominational ministries, interdenominational and ecumenical organizations, and other entities whose principal purpose is the study or advancement of religion.”

Americans’ views on churches endorsing political candidates

A June 2008 survey of more than 1,200 adults showing Americans’ views on churches endorsing political candidates.
Source: LifeWay Research, “New Research on Politics and the Church,” blogs.lifeway.com, Sep. 24, 2008