Taxes

Tax time is upon us here in the USA. I pay my taxes willingly, as I see
it as the duty of all Americans to pay what their fair share. However, I
am dismayed by the preferential treatment given to some in the US tax
code.

Of course, I am talking about churches. Nearly all churches are
organized as non profit corporations. Although I have no personal use
for churches, I do not begrudge them their non-profit status. The
preferential treatment that bothers me is the fact that all other
non-profits must file certain forms each year, and churches do not.
If a non-profit is not a church and is either a charitable foundation or
has income greater than $5000, they must file a form 990. They must also
submit an application with a fee of up to $500 to be registered as a
non-profit in order for the IRS to recognize them as such. Churches
(which includes parent organizations such as the Southern Baptist
Convention) are not required to do so. What this means is that if I were
to set up a small secular charity run by unpaid volunteers to give food
to the hungry in my small town and it receives donations equal to $5000,
I must spend the time to fill out the form 990, and also must use ten
percent of those gifts in order to be known as a non-profit. At the same
time, the aforementioned Southern Baptists can have well-paid staff and
take in millions of dollars in donations without having to spend a dime
to report anything to the IRS.

This is not fair. This is unconstitutional. Churches, being religious
entities, should not be singled out for unfair advantages in the tax
code. They should be required to follow the same rules as other
non-profit organizations, or all non-profits should be given the same
exemptions as churches.