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It's about time! The burden doesn't need to fall on taxpayers to subsidize churches. If you know you can't afford what's going up don't build it. Worship at home or amongst friends minus the multimillion dollar price tag. If the congregation wants it bad enough they can pay.
What really erks me about how it is now is churches and cemetaries can take up valuable land with no income coming out and how churches can legislate hate through picketing, campaigning, etc and this money is UN taxed.
How are taxpayer 'subsiding' churches? Most cemeteries were build outside the city limits, and then the city expanded and grew out around them... Never mind, your entire post is ignorant.
No, no you really haven't covered my point, not in the slightest. All of the organizations you mentioned are organized under statutory rules that outline their tax exempt status. Again, this has everything to do with STATUTES and regulations very little to do with the 1st amendment and the courts.
To make this painstakingly clear do you know why religious organizations are called 501c(3)s and not 1st amendments...because that is the STATUTE that governs tax exempt status.
That churches are restricted in what they can do and those restrictions are officially noted in law is not being argued. They are tax exempt in their religious activities even without it though. Churches have always been tax exempt even before there were any I.R.S. designations. There is no big deal in noting that churches funding a certain candidate would run afoul of the reasons they are not taxed.
The IRS was created in 1953. How is it that churches were tax exempt before that? The IRS doesn't have anything at all to do with things like property taxes and yet the church has always been exempt.
How are taxpayer 'subsiding' churches? Most cemeteries were build outside the city limits, and then the city expanded and grew out around them... Never mind, your entire post is ignorant.
Perhaps he wants them plowed under and replaced with a Wal Mart so that they will have "value"?
Never mind that the burial industry is very profitable and taxed.
And as of yet you haven't made a single argument. Your only participation has been lame personal attacks. I would hope the mods see through the attempt to get a thread closed that a participant isn't thrilled over the way it's went.
Well, I've shown that you are incorrect in your understanding of the constitution. I have also shown that the case you brought up doesn't set any precedent relating to the taxation of churches.
I'm not really trying to make a case here. I am content showing others and yourself that you have no case. This I accomplished.
Let's be honest... you're the one who throws around personal attacks here. Now you're trying to call out others for it? Your hypocrisy is quite evident:
I'm going to guess that you are "pretty sure" about that?
If they tax a church all the time it shouldn't be difficult to provide examples. They can tax individuals who buy things from a church. The most recent case I can recall, (I'll have to try and find it if need be) concerned a church selling a magazine. The state was going to make it tax exempt. That is you didn't have to pay a sales tax on it unlike other mags.
The courts ruled against this idea. I have no problem with this ruling as it's the individual being taxed and not the church and this can be reasonably argued because of that the state was giving the church an unfair advantage.
That would make perfect sense. The actual charity part of it would get get tax free status while the non-charity part of it wouldn't.
In many regions, non-profits are not taxed whether they are a charity or not. The law would have to apply to all non-profits and cannot be selective about certain kinds of organizations.
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