Atheist group files lawsuit over church tax status

[undeterred]

By ASSOCIATED PRESS Friday, December 28, 2012 - 7:01 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Internal Revenue Service is giving unconstitutional preferential treatment to churches and other religious organizations.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Madison says the IRS is violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment as well as constitutional equal protection rights by exempting churches from having to file a detailed application form, fee and annual information form to receive and maintain tax-exempt status.

The lawsuit says that preferential treatment gives churches an exclusive and discriminatory benefit not afforded other secular nonprofits like the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

An IRS spokesman had no comment.

http://gazettextra.com/weblogs/latest-news/2012/dec/28/atheist-group-files-lawsuit-over-church-tax-status/

[RKP5637]

1. Many churches are mega-corporations and should be taxed as such. If not, then

I fully agree!!! " ... preferential treatment gives churches an exclusive and discriminatory benefit not afforded other secular nonprofits like the Freedom from Religion Foundation."

[spanone]

2. too many churches preach politics....k&r

[TheDebbieDee]

3. The tax exemption for ALL churches should be revoked.........

All churches are money-making enterprises that operate out of churches instead of office buildings.

[onehandle]

4. Never going to happen. They shouldn't be tax exempt, but Atheists would be better served by...

...finally declaring themselves a religion and gaining the tax exempt status for themselves.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. When LBJ came up with this F--n Nightmare,

back in the 50's. We knew damn well this idea would come back to bit us in the ass. This whole thing was just a gimmick to save Johnson's ass from embarrassment by the Baptist Church. Old LBJ was nothing more than a Con-Man,probably the most corrupt President ever.

This group in Wisconsin is more than just Atheist's,major support from the Progressive Wing of the Dems,hope they prevail. Long pass due for this to be changed. As a sidebar,Mormon Church rakes in 3.5 Billion tax free by using their non-profit Deseret Industries shell company. They own T.V. and radio stations,Bank holdings,water companies,Mining intrusts,major shopping and real estate companies. I know,the same can be said by other churches,but this one church is way out there when it comes to being a outlier.