06/29/2024
Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.
So why, then, do you hear some preachers telling people to vote for Trump?
Because their lackeys in Congress have made it next to impossible to hold them accountable.
"Congress has imposed special limitations, found in section 7611 of the Internal Revenue Code, on how and when the IRS may conduct civil tax inquiries and examinations of churches. The IRS may begin a church tax inquiry only if an appropriate high-level Treasury official reasonably believes, on the basis of facts and circumstances recorded in writing, that an organization claiming to be a church or convention or association of churches may not qualify for exemption."
So written documentation sent in by you or me is not enough. Video and audiotape of a church endorsing a candidate, even telling people that no Christian would vote for or against a certain candidate, are not enough. Only written documentation/complaint from a "high-level" Treasury official can initiate an *investigation*.
In other words, this is a license for Christian churches to circumvent the law that every other non-profit organization has to follow, while leaving a way for presidential appointees to persecute any non-favored religions who do what Christian churches are de facto allowed to do.
This is a direct violation of the First Amendment.
