As ‘Churches,’ Some TV Ministries Escape Financial Scrutiny

The Internal Revenue Service has not audited a church in five years and due to a quirk in tax regulations appears to lack authority to do so, keeping the finances of some televangelists who collect tens of millions of dollars a year effectively secret, according to NPR.

Some Christian broadcasting operations have been classified as churches and are thus covered by strict protections against IRS review. Under federal law, the tax agency must get approval from a high-ranking Treasury Department official to audit a church. The IRS has not specified who that official should be, effectively halting audits.

The piece is the second in an NPR investigation of TV ministries with church status, following a detailed report on one such entity, the $233-million Daystar network. Part two looks at several televangelists whose lavish lifestyles led to a congressional inquiry headed by Sen. Charles Grassley that initially called for tighter IRS controls but ultimately recommended greater self-policing by religious bodies.