Do you realize how much your taxes would go down if religious institutions were not tax exempt?

This is for the U.S.. Have you ever looked into your own town, municpality, city, township, county, etc and determined how much real estate is owned by religious institutions? In my township, which is very rural, approximately 65 - 70% of real estate is owned by non-profits. Among that, roughly 3/4 is owned by church organizations. If that real estate were not tax exempt, the home owners taxes would be dramatically reduced. The members of those churches could pay their churches taxes with all the money they will have saved on their own property taxes. The churches would stand or fall on their own merit. Some people argue that the churches provide for a community. Yet, considering the fact that U.S. citizens miss out on Billions of dollars from tax exempt orgs, those billions could be dolled out by the government, with no benefit to religion. Much of what churches distribute is provided by gov't money anyway. Soup Kitchens, Day Care, Etc, isn't from the church's own coffers. And that goes for the Aussies, too. Here's an article I found which pertains to church tax exemption in Australia. http://groups.google.com/group/scientology_arg/msg/ddf7a587c8567f82 The divorce between Church and State ought to be absolute. It ought to be so absolute that no Church property anywhere, in any state or in the nation, should be exempt for equal taxation; for if you exempt the property of any church organization to that extent you impose a tax upon the whole community. — James A Garfield, 20th U.S. President (1881 And wow, I just found this site: http://www.taxchurches.com/ To fish <>< YOU are the one who is misinformed: http://www.gainesvillehumanists.org/chrchtax.htm

Public Comments

1. Shhh, the churches need all they can get for their lavish gold ceilings.
2. Yes.
3. Go down, certainly you jest. In the US, it only increases, never decreases.
4. You're right. There was a town in Texas that recently neared default because it had too many churches on prime real estate and had no money to operate. Let's not forget churches avail themselves of government services, such as police and fire departments when needed (say faulty wiring) yet don't pay for those services. They should be billed.
5. if thats true then i would love to see religious institutions start being taxed
6. Amendment I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion
7. I know what you mean. I never have understood why a church should have tax exempt status.
8. why you gotta be a hater?
9. I know. Pains me that the ones that can't really afford to pay taxes, carry the brunt of the tax burden. Changes need to be made.
10. Yes. I have been trying to tell people that informationg for three years. Discouragingly, nobody cares.
11. We could try Fairtax where all good and services are taxed and not incomes.
12. Do you honestly believe your government would give the money to you instead of frittering it away?
13. Do you know if that applies to the UK too? Never really thought about it... very interesting question!
14. praise GOD FOR THE CHURCH EXEMPT WHAT IS A CHURCH COFFERS
15. Your ignorance of church affairs is astounding. The Government is not involved in Soup Kitchens, Day Care, etc. Any Christian business is not government supported. The church is the community. The government waste is obvious and their response to need is slower than anyone.
16. Religious institutions should b taxed out the ass!!! They r just a bunch of crooks with the best sales spoof ever!! U buy in or u burn for eternity =D. Alot of the big evangelist leaders squander millions of church dollars on lavish houses and cars!!! Many insitutions even discourage birth control to build their flock of sheep quickly!
17. There should be NO exemptions for churches. PERIOD. Nothing but organized ignorance.
18. Please don't look at churches needing to pay taxes. If our foreign policy wasn't so adept at policing the world...we wouldn't even need income tax. If our foreign policy was as George Bush said..."a humble foreign policy" we wouldn't be scrambling for funds. We take money to blow up their bridges...then we take money to rebuild them...meanwhile...our bridges need to be overhauled. The benefit of many nonprofit organizations is phenominal. We are benefitting many times over in funding. I myself have participated volunteering and I can see that the benefits completely outweigh any tax you could get from it. Here in America...it wasn't the government going to help the people of the Katrina Hurricane...it was the churches and other nonprofits. They fed, clothed and sheltered many...when FEMA was dragging their feet. And it is the nonprofits that will help the Katrina victims get back into their homes...because the U.S. is doing little or nothing in that regard...and is actually disenfranchising many blacks, hispanics and vietnamese and other from going back to their neighborhoods. Yeah...fat chance I give the government any more money...when they use the money we give them in a way that takes away others civil liberties...both here in America and abroad. The America I believe in doesn't torture people. Until the government shows more regard for humanity...why give them any more money? The government cannot replace the value of the nonprofits...nor do they have the desire to. Please don't think this is any kind of solution.
19. Taxes to feed the needy? Taxes to feed the corrupt politicians. Taxes to establish totalitarian regimes a la 1984?
20. There should never be such a thing as a tax exempt organization. In addition to the large taxes that churches avoid paying, there's also thousands of tax exempt organizations shifting their tax burden to the tax payers. Many of these organizations are not only un-American but can also support terrorists who are out to destroy us. Also there's a large amount of fraud in tax exempt organizations. Persons belonging to that organization will buy things on the organizations account for their own personal use avoiding sales taxes. I've seen it many more times than one. Let those who play, PAY I would not be afraid to guess the taxes collected would increase 20 to 25% if we do away with all tax exempt organizations. There should be absolutely NO tax exemptions for anything or any body. It not only increases the burdeon on the taxpayer but also encourages tax evasion.
21. Very few places have 70% of the real estate owned by non-profit religious institutions, but I do agree that they should have to pay taxes. I'd be in favor of allowing churches to have tax exempt subsidiaries for their charitable functions, but I do think they should pay taxes on money they receive that goes towards the church itself.
22. Many religious based non-profit organizations need to be taxed. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArV2loWUhuQOA5IMgyC9GwXsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20071124164621AABsNpg
23. Then donate your refund to help offset the loss
24. Actually corruption is much more to blame and the churches are the strongest opponents of corruption. It is the churches that are the strongest at promoting the freedoms by which our prosperity comes. The tax break is more than worth it. Besides much of the land churches are on would be vacant otherwise and not bring in any tax anyway.
25. I wonder what a burden would develop if Christians quit giving to their church, and in turn their church stopped all their ministries to jails, prisons, the poor, drug addicts, those displaced by natural disasters, working mothers, single parents, and so on. You probably have no idea how much money Christians spend on the needy, or how much volunteer time is given.
26. Oh boy, this burns me. We are not supposed to be favoring religion, yet religion get enormous special favors. It's easier for them to be tax exempt, they don't have to file any income reports (unlike 501c(3) charities which have to file and show charitable work), ministers get religious tax exemptions. They get exemptions from licensing and safety requirements (such as when they run child care). They get to claim credit for giving away government money. With "Faith Based Initiatives" they get government money directly without having to form a separate organization. All the while being able to discriminate in hiring and group membership. They use roads, police protection, fire protection the same as anyone else, but they get a free ride paid by everyone else, including me. For John S, For all the money given to churches, how much actually makes it to things like feeding the homeless? How much is consumed by the church organization itself. Secondly, even among non-profits, churches get special treatment. Why not have all charities follow the same law? Require churches to file IRS statements just like every other non-profit. This way we can see just where the money goes. When I give money to the Red Cross, I can check to see how much is spent on overhead and the like.
27. I cant speak for the churches in your area, but in my little corner of the world, they provide invaluable service for the homeless, hungry, disabled, etc. and this is only possible by the volunteers and gifts of the church. Our churches here are sustained by the donations of the membership. It wouldnt be fair to slap them in the face with a 'church' tax when they already sacrifice time, money and materials to help the community. At one time churches were the only providers and shelter for the underprivileged, the down and out... lately the state has taken over some of that aid, and that part comes from the taxpayers pocket. Churches can generally provide these services with greater cost efficiency than the gov't can...lets help them to be able to do this. Tax free/charitable status is subject to stringent rules and regulations, and can be audited and withdrawn at any time. It comes down to ...if the church provides community services, you don't pay for it. If the gov't taxes them and takes over the services, YOU will pay for it. You will not see a reduction in taxes, and we all know tax monies have a way of disappearing into oblivion under gov't mismanagement.
28. I'm just curious about the statistics of your town, considering the national average for non-profit land ownership is 18 to 20% - living in an area that is 70% non-profit owned seems a bit high. I work for a non-profit human services agency that owns 34 residential homes for individuals with developmental disabilities. In addition, we run 4 homes for teens with mental health and behavioral issues. Our tax exempt status allows more money to go to the care of these individuals. Taking the tax exempt status away from groups that are already struggling with federal budget slashing would only leaving people without services. Some religious instituions obviously abuse the non-profit status, but many more fund valuable services that help people living below the poverty line - believe me, an elderly person who has to choose between eating and purchasing medication, doesn't care that the meal that is being donated to them is coming from a group that has different religious beliefs then their own.
29. I agree so much ! Why aren't we taxing all the tax-exempt property, the temples and mosques, as well as the churches ? ? ? ? ? Property taxes have gotten so high in my area that normal people can't even buy a home anymore here - yet, just across the highway in another area, every other home is a ''church'' and has signs in the yard and on Sunday you hear people there singing, I asked someone we knew who lived in that area about that, it seemed odd to me, and I was told that if the family registered their home as a church, they were tax-exempt and also got to go to the Federal Food Bank to shop, where food per pound was 19 cents, no matter what it was. A 5 dollar box of cereal in the public market cost about 25 cents at the Food Bank. The property tax on our house is 22 hundred dollars now because we bought it back in 1970 but the same house next door and across the street are paying 9 thousand and 12 thousand each - because each time they were sold, the taxes went up to the current legal level. When I die, with a paid up house, it looks like my taxes on this house are going to be so high that my children won't even be able to afford them. The religious property seems to be considered like the Sacred Cow is in India . Nobody can touch it. I thought I was the only one who ever thought about this and how unfair it is to everybody. So, we should all write our congressmen and the presidential office about this issue also, and our newspapers.