Before you get authorization to mail at a non profit rate, or receive exemption from federal income tax, you must, first of all, be a group.
Believe it or not there are individuals who make masterful efforts to prove that they are really groups. If they succeed, they'll donate all their income to their one man church, let the church take care of them, and they will evade taxation.
One such individual was called The Reverend Ewing. He single handedly tied up IRS, USPS, HUD and tax authorities in a number of different states. There was no church at all in his life, but he said there was and he really knew the rules, and apparently could acquit himself well in state and federal courts.
A friend of mine had been tending the 'evidence' provided by the Reverend Union for at least 10 years ~ maybe 15. It took up space and since it was still a live case we could just send it off to a federal records center.
The case languished for years. Then, finally the big boss died, my friend retired, and we took the 'evidence', put it in boxes, and declared it 'lost'. End of that case. He never did get to use nonprofit mailing privileges though. That's because he could never prove he was a group. He tried. I know that at one point my friend had actually asked him to provide the content of prayers given at services, and asked if he could come visit the church some day to see him preach.
The bureaucrats are not crazy to distrust some members of the public!
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