It’s
time for the IRS to crack down on illegal partisan politicking by
churches, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
In
a letter sent today
to IRS Acting Commissioner Daniel Werfel, Americans United noted that
the IRS recently announced proposed tightened rules governing 501(c)(4)
organizations. While this is a complex area of tax law, the question of
church-based electioneering requires a much simpler fix.
“The law
says houses of worship that choose to engage in politics are risking
their tax exemption,” said Americans United Executive Director the Rev.
Barry W. Lynn. “But that law is meaningless if the IRS fails to enforce
it. Without some teeth, the regulation might as well not exist.”
Houses
of worship are tax exempt as 501(c)(3) organizations. Under federal
law, groups holding the (c)(3) status are strictly prohibited from
intervening in elections; they may not advise congregants or members to
vote for or against specific candidates.
The IRS, however, has
done little to enforce the law. Part of the problem stems from a 2008
federal court ruling involving a Minnesota church that successfully
challenged the IRS’s procedures for investigating churches.
In
U.S. v. Living Word Christian Center,
a court said the IRS could not audit the church because it had not
designated the proper IRS official for initiating such an audit. The IRS
subsequently announced that it would issue new rules to deal with the
problem, but more than five years later, little has been done.
In
2009 the IRS issued a proposal to update its church audit procedures in
accordance with the court ruling, but it never released a final set of
rules. Since then, experts believe no churches have been investigated
for improper campaign intervention despite numerous reported
violations.
In today’s letter to Werfel, AU’s Lynn noted that the
tax agency is revamping rules for political activity by 501(c)(4)
“social welfare” groups, a task most observers believe will be
controversial and complicated. By contrast, clarifying audit procedures
for churches requires a simple fix of adding a few sentences to existing
IRS regulations.
Lynn urged that the final rule be adopted and that enforcement begin.
“My
purpose in writing today is to request that the IRS finalize these
regulations, publicize them and begin enforcing the law,” wrote Lynn.
“As you know, our nation is approaching mid-term elections; I believe it
would be detrimental for our country and the democratic process to go
through another election cycle with the ‘no-politicking’ rule
unenforced. The more the IRS delays, the more some pastors conclude that
they do not have to abide by this law.”
Americans United pointed
out in its letter that it has sent 124 complaints to the IRS about
church politicking since 1992, but to AU’s knowledge just one of those
churches lost its tax-exempt status. As a result, Religious Right groups
have been encouraging pastors to dive head first into partisan politics
– with little fear of consequences.
“We’ve done our part by
telling the IRS when churches defy federal law,” Lynn said. “Now it’s
time for the IRS to act on our complaints.”
Americans United
is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded
in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of
church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
https://au.org/media/press-releases/americans-united-urges-irs-to-step-up-investigations-of-church-based-partisan
