Posted on 04/27/2015 9:33:46 AM PDT by raptor22
The IRS targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups prior to the 2012 election was an unconscionable abuse of power for which accountability and punishment have been noticeably absent. But this was and is not the only use by the Obama administration of the power to tax to attempt to destroy its political opponents.
The IRS is also involved in targeting what President Obama has called “less than loving” Christians through the mandates of ObamaCare and its attack on the free exercise of religion through the attempted coercion of mandated health insurance coverage This administration’s war on religion is also seen in the monitoring of Christian churches by the IRS in response to a lawsuit filed on December 27, 2012 by the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) concerning sermons that are considered by the political left to be political speech by tax-exempt organization in alleged violation of federal law. These sermons, often criticizing ObamaCare’s encroachment on freedom of religion through its mandates among other issues, are considered electioneering by the atheist left.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
FREEDOM OF RELIGION PING
Churches need to rescind their 501(c)(3) status, or they will soon be directed what they can and can’t preach, with the non-profit status being used as the excuse.
The churches know what’s coming. But if it does the IRS bettter be clamping down on other 501(c) liberal activist groups but I’m not going to hold my breath...
Ted Cruz wants to get rid of the irs. He has my vote.
I could be wrong,but weren’t the churches never intended to be taxed groups long before there was an IRS?
You're not wrong. Through the 18th and 19th centuries, our civil government generally recognized and behaved as if churches enjoyed a separate sovereignty in the land, meaning churches were not beholden to the civil government for their existence and did owe tax to the government, because the civil government recognized that churches owed their tax (tithe) to God. A church's "tax-exempt status" (even before the 501(c)3 filings) was a status recognized by both parties, because the civil government recognized that a church owed it's taxes to another Lord, and not to the civil government itself. It was not conferred, but pre-existing in the same way that our Constitution recognizes that our civil rights came from God long before the civil government honored them.
Today, however, the civil government decrees that it can award or withhold tax exemption to churches, based upon the terms of the 501(c)3 rules. This is not liberty - this is toleration. If a church becomes intolerable to the government, the government can tax it or even seize it's property in lieu of taxation. In practice, the civil government behaves as if it is God Himself, demanding tithes from all in exchange for all sustenance.
It is my belief that all Trinitarian churches should enjoy an automatic tax-free status with the civil government. Then again, it's also my belief that the civil government should formally declare the Lord Jesus Christ as it's sovereign head, and not taxing it's citizenry for any amount larger than 10% (i.e. no larger than the amount that God Himself demands from His church, so as not to encroach on God's rights).
FREEDOM OF RELIGION PING
The government took over the duties of churches when they started the welfare programs.
As their involvement grew, the necessity of the churches waned. As this occurred, the nutcase evangelist tv preachers came into play. Their care for the poor had been greatly supplemented by the govt., so they got rich and bought island retreats. Robert Tilton comes to immediate mind.
Ask any liberal what they think of religion, they will point to the televangelist. They were phonies, and now all religions pay the price in the liberal cult.
I don’t know why they would bother, nothing has happened to the IRS for targeting only conservative political actions committees and organisations.
The dirty little secret is that both sides have progressives that want to use the power of the IRS to their own advantage. If we will ever be free of the threat of this tyranny we need to get the federal government out of the collection business altogether.
Divide the federal budget by the number of the states and then let the states collect it. There is no need for federal government to be concerned with collections from individuals at all.
FREEDOM OF RELIGION PING
Their tactics have changed.
They target small business owners, essentially with extortion.
They disallow ALL except perhaps 10-20% of itemized deductions from a tax return.
Safety equipment and uniforms no longer allowed because the employee knows he expected to wear these at work, so it’s his choice when he hired on to the business. Business can’t give them to him because he is an individual, not a recognized charity.
So let’s say you brought in $80k and took out single deduction on the W4, but were married and filed as a couple. You should have a lot coming back. If you itemized, you might have $10-15k coming back after having $18k withheld. Standardized deduction returns you maybe half of that.
In order to defend yourself and take it to court, it will cost you $2500 min + $300-$600/hr of attorney fees.
By the time its all said and done, you risk dropping $50k out of cash you don’t have to retrieve say $7500 which you already had received. Multiply that times three, for the year preceding and following the audit, and it’s a $50k cost to defend $18k to $25k max loss even as a personal loan to pay it off.
You pay it as standardized deduction and mark up your costs for the next billing cycle on future work.
The people staffing the IRS as as liberal as they come. They think all of society’s woes are due to greedy capitalists and they feel business expenses are a loophole they want to close.
Medical expenses won’t go beyond ObamaCare, even if they were 3 years old. $5k cap on personal liability, so its not over the 8% min cap to deduct. Won’t get itemized.
It doesn’t matter if all you expenditures have been based on the tax codes to live efficiently. They intend to extort the taxpayer and you never get a fair hearing.
Inman ping
Thanks raptor22.
Churches don’t ‘earn money’ through work and selling a product or service - from which they would have expenses and a profit. Churches receive money through voluntary donations.
Churches have MORE rights to a 501(c)3 status than many non-church organizations do....like Sierra Club, World Wildlife Foundation, etc.
If/when the IRS decides to end the ability of churches to have a 501(c)3 status - they should be prepared to end the 501(c)3 status for every organization.
You are 100% correct - what they DON'T need, is a piece of paper from the FedGov that say so. BUT - the fact is that the churches have rendered unto Caesar that which is God's. The result will be that the churches will be forced to toe the statist line unless they want their status revoked. If their non-profit status is revoked, the tithes are no longer tax deductible.
2 Timothy 4:3 (NIV)
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
Tilton is still the model Evangelical to liberals I know.
I remember his speaking in tongues. I sat in front of my 17” Sony Trinitron with my jaw on the floor. “How is this guy getting away with this?”
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