October 28, 2004 | Read Time: 1 minute
The national office of the Internal Revenue Service has ruled that penalties should be imposed on a church that the tax agency says has engaged in politicking. But the government has stopped short of revoking the church’s tax exemption.
At issue was whether the church should lose its charity status over comments made by its founder in television broadcasts that a particular presidential candidate was “dangerous” and should not be elected.
As is its policy, the IRS did not identify the church, founder, or politician involved in the ruling (Technical Advice Memorandum 200437040).
Church officials said the founder’s statements were merely intended to provide examples for spiritual guidance. The IRS rejected the argument, saying that the remarks were clearly designed to denigrate the candidate’s “integrity and patriotism, to generate anger and resentment against him, and ultimately to persuade listeners not to vote for him.”
Citing the section of the tax code governing political expenditures of charitable organizations, the IRS said that the church must pay a tax equal to 100 percent of the money it spent on costs related to the broadcast, including the expense of buying broadcast time. However, because the church has since adopted guidelines that prohibit such remarks, the IRS said its tax-exempt status should not be revoked.
