Presidential Endorsements Could Cost Churches Billions. ProCon.org Explores Whether or Not Churches Should Remain Tax Exempt.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Nov. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Reverend Robert Jeffress, a Dallas pastor who endorsed Gov. Rick Perry, made waves when he called Mormonism a "cult" on Oct. 7, 2011. The IRS has been asked to investigate whether Jeffress endangered the tax-exempt status of his church just by endorsing the Texas Republican.

While U.S. churches are protected under federal income and property tax exemptions, a 1954 law prohibits churches from "directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign." The IRS used this law to revoke the tax-exempt status of a church that in 1992 ran an advertisement criticizing Bill Clinton's views. And now the IRS is being asked to review whether Jeffress's church violated the same law.

The Jeffress controversy is one of the many issues detailed on ProCon.org's new website (http://churchesandtaxes.procon.org), which questions the tax exemption of churches.

ProCon.org, online at www.procon.org, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity that provides free and nonpartisan research on controversial issues.

Another controversy discussed on the website is the benefit known as the "parsonage exemption" (or "parish exemption"), whereby "licensed, commissioned, or ordained" ministers of religion may deduct most of the money they spend on housing from their federal income tax. While some religious leaders live humbly, others enjoy several multi-million dollar homes with their expenses partially or entirely offset by tax exemptions.

Still another controversy explored is whether churches should remain tax-exempt when the economy is struggling. 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.

ProCon.org's 44^th website, http://churchesandtaxes.procon.org, offers pro and con arguments, a detailed background on the issue, a video gallery, numerous photos, listed sources for all data cited, and a "Did You Know?" section which provides little known facts such as:

1. The first recorded tax exemption for churches was during the Roman Empire, when Constantine, Emperor of Rome from 306-337, granted the Christian church a complete exemption from all forms of taxation following his conversion to Christianity circa 312.
2. The law against churches intervening in political campaigns was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1954. Since then, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been successful in using the law to revoke the tax-exempt status of only one church: the Church at Pierce Creek in Binghamton, NY, which had placed an advertisement in USA Today and the Washington Times rebuking Bill Clinton four days before the 1992 presidential election.
3. In spring 2010, the state of Oklahoma awarded tax-exempt status to a Satanist group called The Church of the IV Majesties.
4. According to former White House senior policy analyst Jeff Schweitzer, Ph.D., U.S. churches own $300-$500 billion in untaxed property. New York City alone loses $627 million in annual property tax revenue due to 9,500 churches being tax-exempt, according to a July 2011 analysis by New York's nonpartisan Independent Budget Office.

For more information about whether or not churches should remain tax-exempt, please visit http://churchesandtaxes.procon.org.

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ProCon.org (online at www.procon.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity whose mission is promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship.  Information is presented on 44 different ProCon.org issue websites in subjects ranging from the 2012 presidential election, alternative energy, and medical marijuana to the death penalty, illegal immigration, and health care reform.

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SOURCE ProCon.org