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Should we tax religious institutions?

Should we tax religious institutions?

  • yes

    Votes: 26 57.8%

  • no

    Votes: 19 42.2%
  • Total voters
    45
People who derive their pay from charitable orginization a should have that income taxed like anything else.

The only thing that shouldn't be taxed are funds ACTUALY being used for charity.

As for churches...and property taxes...I'm not sure they could afford them. Take the Catholic Church. Their properties (in Europe anyway) are priceless. How do you assess the value in order for it to be taxed?
 
How about a progressive tax structure on income based on percentage of funds used for charity.

In other words, take Salvation Army. CEO makes millions per year. If they use less than 10% of the funds they take in on charity, that that CEOs pay at 60%. If they use more than 40% of their income for charity, his income tax goes down to 25%.


Put in a few steps, of course, but you get the idea.
 
Tax them like any business/corporation.
 
point1percent said:
Taxing the rich is a common theme these days, but there is no talk of taxing religion. Why is that? The Catholic Church has a combined wealth that is near impossible to calculate, but rest assured it makes Bill Gates look like just another poor guy. They pay no taxes but rake in billions. Where does all that money go? Do you really think it is making its way back to the people, especially the poor? And why does God need money? Surely anyone who can create a universe doesn't need money.
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The power to tax is the power to control. Look at all the exercise that government makes of this power to control individuals and companies through taxation.

In order to protect religious freedom, religions must not be subject to this kind of control from the government.


point1percent said:
Seems like organized religion is a goldmine that could be used to save the poor and the middle class.
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Your “Lean” says “Very Conservative”, but there's nothing conservative about this. The idea that any organizations money should be seen as “a goldmine” that government can or should use “to save the poor and the middle class”, or for any other alleged good that government claims to do, is very much the opposite of anything for which any conservative would stand. For that matter, so is your apparent desire to put churches under control of the government.
 
spud_meister said:
What fraud takes place with churches asking for tithes?
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They do so on the basis that God exists.

They do so on the basis that your soul is saved by this.

They do so the basis that they represent the God approved religion.

They have no evidence for any of this so that makes it fraud.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
Definitely taxed. They are a private organization that makes profits. The catholic CEO, for instance, lives in a big palace in the center of Rome. Just because they also make charitable contributions doesn't mean they don't also make profits. That's like saying "Well, Goldman-Sachs donated money to charity this year, so their entire organization should be tax free."

We're all paying taxes, they should too. Fair is fair.
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when "ALL" of us pay taxes maybe you are right
 
Yes, we should. I'm fine with giving them the same tax breaks anyone else gets for charitable work, but I don't see why everything else shouldn't be taxed.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
Most of them do. They have employees and CEOs that make a very substantial amount of cash, and a lot of the profits go back into the organization. Take charities like the Cancer Fund of America who takes in 81 million but only pays out 5% to the cause they allegedly support.

America's Worst Charities

I mean just look at this guy:

pope-benedict-XVI.jpg


He's sitting on a golden throne and has more bling than a rapper.
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Clearly you are unhappy with what the definition of a non-profit is: Nonprofit organization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also interesting that "this guy" who is no longer Pope and his organization aren't on your list. Your message is very disjoint and difficult to understand. Could you express it more succinctly?
 
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Question: Is there any law that explicitly states that religious institutions should be tax-exempt? Or do churches fall under the category of things that are tax-exempt? I'm asking this because right now my only reason for wanting to tax churches is "Organised religion is stupid so taxing it would help diminish its power". And objectively, that's an awful reason.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
Clearly you are unhappy with what the definition of a non-profit is: Nonprofit organization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also interesting that "this guy" who is no longer Pope and his organization aren't on your list. Your message is very disjoint and difficult to understand. Could you express it more succinctly?
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Yes, I am, because non-profit absolutely, positively can be heavily for-profit. Giving a tiny amount of your income away does not make you a non-profit.

And seriously? You think I didn't know he wasn't the pope? I just googled pope and took the gaudiest looking one I saw. I thought surely the readers could understand it was the pope in general and not that specific pope, but I guess I completely and totally overestimated you.

Also, the list I posted was about random charities. The catholic church keeps their total income highly secretive, because for some reason they're special while the rest of us have to file taxes and report income.
 
point1percent said:
Taxing the rich is a common theme these days, but there is no talk of taxing religion. Why is that? The Catholic Church has a combined wealth that is near impossible to calculate, but rest assured it makes Bill Gates look like just another poor guy. They pay no taxes but rake in billions. Where does all that money go? Do you really think it is making its way back to the people, especially the poor? And why does God need money? Surely anyone who can create a universe doesn't need money. Seems like organized religion is a goldmine that could be used to save the poor and the middle class.
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Intermingling church and state would not be a good idea.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
Yes, I am, because non-profit absolutely, positively can be heavily for-profit. Giving a tiny amount of your income away does not make you a non-profit.

And seriously? You think I didn't know he wasn't the pope? I just googled pope and took the gaudiest looking one I saw. I thought surely the readers could understand it was the pope in general and not that specific pope, but I guess I completely and totally overestimated you.

Also, the list I posted was about random charities. The catholic church keeps their total income highly secretive, because for some reason they're special while the rest of us have to file taxes and report income.
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So what percent to give away is acceptable to you.

I have no idea whether you know who is Pope and who isn't Pope.

I believe that each diocese is I incorporated as it's own entity. I seriously doubt that the Catholic Church takes in billions in income. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have billions in assets but the subject is income tax.

Do you think that assets should be taxed?
 
Absolutely they should be taxed. Lots of churches are speaking out about politics, something that's a no-no. If they don't want to be taxed on their charitable work, I'm fine with that, but anything that pays for the building and the priesthood and all of that should be taxed.
 
mak2 said:
The only time I believe Churches should be taxed is when they derive income from something that is in direct competition with the private sector. Specifically one city I used to live in had a huge church with a huge convention center system, catering etc. The Church paid no taxes on any level. The competition in the private sector had to pay significant taxes on several levels.
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Bingo! When a religious entity reaches the point where it has it's own world television station and it's own Starbucks, hotel and the religious leader is flying first class or has his own airplane; when a religious entity contributes to or participates in the purchase of a public official tax 'em.
 
Yes they should be taxed, except for money they use for charitable work (like feeding the poor, homeless shelters etc.).
 
Bob Blaylock said:
Your “Lean” says “Very Conservative”, but there's nothing conservative about this. The idea that any organizations money should be seen as “a goldmine” that government can or should use “to save the poor and the middle class”, or for any other alleged good that government claims to do, is very much the opposite of anything for which any conservative would stand. For that matter, so is your apparent desire to put churches under control of the government.
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My lean is to wherever it best protects and amplifies my wealth. I'd rather the government tax these ridiculous religious organizations who do nothing for the economy, or the people, rather than the wealthy who grease the wheels of the economy. If you want jobs and a robust economy, and want to tax something, I suggest taxing the drains on the economy first and the enablers of the economy last.
 
Jerry said:
Intermingling church and state would not be a good idea.
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You speak like it hasn't happened yet. In fact, the cozy relationship between church and state is getting old and no longer brings much benefit, to the rich, to the right, or to the people in general, IMO. I'll be blunt and to the point. Maybe the people should stop putting their faith, and money, in organized religion and instead put their faith in their own abilities and take care of themselves for a change. Then, instead of giving their money to those shysters of organized religion, they could invest it in education and skills that make them more productive.
 
Here's my take on this whole religion thing. Mind control for weak minds. It encourages dependency while robbing the people of much needed money. I've met many of these religious leaders at fundraisers and other events, and I have to tell you they are much more corrupt than the average politician or plutocrat. And all the money they capture, where do you think this money ends up? It sickens me that the wealthy are vilified and the religious leaders look squeaky clean. And what do they create? Dependency. Dependency on God and the church.

Stop putting your money and faith into things that make you more dependent on outside intervention and start putting your money and faith into making yourself more capable and productive. Shame on Reagan for involving these lunatics in politics. Now that's blowback. If we want people to become more independent and to stop looking to government for all their needs, we will have to sever this broken bond with the church, who's sole mission is to create dependency.

P.S. It's time to start putting those pedophiles and crooks in jail with the rest of the scum.
 
point1percent said:
Taxing the rich is a common theme these days, but there is no talk of taxing religion. Why is that? The Catholic Church has a combined wealth that is near impossible to calculate, but rest assured it makes Bill Gates look like just another poor guy. They pay no taxes but rake in billions. Where does all that money go? Do you really think it is making its way back to the people, especially the poor? And why does God need money? Surely anyone who can create a universe doesn't need money. Seems like organized religion is a goldmine that could be used to save the poor and the middle class.
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I am all for it.They should be taxed like any other business and allowed deductions for charity like any other business.I do not think running a church or trying to convert should count as charity. I seriously doubt most of these religious institutions use all their cash for charity work. Look Paul and Jan Crouch's or Kenneth and Gloria Copeland's houses mansions for example.

The down side to taxing religious institutions is that they can openly campaign for a candidate. They can have billboard ads criticizing how anti-religious a candidate is due to their stance on a certain issue. I do not know about other parts of the country but in the bible belt people love their churches and a minister can have a lot of sway.
 
spud_meister said:
Charities should not be taxed, just as donations to charity shouldn't be taxed. Religious institutions should be exempt from taxation as long as they do charitable work.
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I occasionally do charity work and I dont want to be taxed either.
 
point1percent said:
Taxing the rich is a common theme these days, but there is no talk of taxing religion. Why is that? The Catholic Church has a combined wealth that is near impossible to calculate, but rest assured it makes Bill Gates look like just another poor guy. They pay no taxes but rake in billions. Where does all that money go? Do you really think it is making its way back to the people, especially the poor? And why does God need money? Surely anyone who can create a universe doesn't need money. Seems like organized religion is a goldmine that could be used to save the poor and the middle class.
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Best speech ever! :lol:

If I had space with your permission I would put this statement on my signature :peace
 
FreedomFromAll said:
I occasionally do charity work and I dont want to be taxed either.
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I have been involved in many charitable work. Now let me look at my docs... Nope. I am still being taxed. It seems only the religious are Gods children and not us for this is obviously a double standard.
 
jamesrage said:
The down side to taxing religious institutions is that they can openly campaign for a candidate. They can have billboard ads criticizing how anti-religious a candidate is due to their stance on a certain issue. I do not know about other parts of the country but in the bible belt people love their churches and a minister can have a lot of sway.
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I think they are already doing that but in a rogue way with alternative channels.
 
point1percent said:
If we want people to become more independent and to stop looking to government for all their needs, we will have to sever this broken bond with the church, who's sole mission is to create dependency.

P.S. It's time to start putting those pedophiles and crooks in jail with the rest of the scum.
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Right, its sole purpose is to make sexual abuse responding dependency.
 
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