You will have to help me out here..
I was under the impression that Churches operated tax free.
I was under the impression that was out of the realm of tax deductible “contributions”.
There are many wealthy congregations.
Is that not the case?
I pay income taxes and I’m the pastor. In fact, I have to pay double on social security because I pay the employer’s part plus my part. All of my people pay taxes, and I’m betting not one in 10 get any benefit out of the possibility of donations being deductible.
I don’t think there are that many wealthy congregations. The vast majority of churches are 100 attenders or less.
Lets clarify some terms here.
Churches are normally organized as a non-profit corporation (501c3 of the tax code). This means that there is a corporate body with a president, treasurer, secretary, etc. and it also means that any money received by the church (regardless of source) is not disbursed to the benefit of the owners or officers of the company. An exception is made for fair and normal salaries and expenses.
All non profits, regardless of the purpose (religious, cultural, educational, etc) are not taxed on the monies received. That is the “benefit” of being a non-profit. However some non-profits allow donations to be tax deductible, others do not.
The government historically has recognized that non-profits are beneficial to society and provide “good works” that the government would otherwise be expected to provide. Also recognizing that these non-profits need money to operate, the government has encouraged people to donate to non-profits by making such donations deductible from the individual’s taxes. This is true for 501(c)(3) corporations. It is different for 501(c)(4) Social welfare organizations and for 501(c)(5) labor unions.
Disclaimer - I am not a lawyer nor tax accountant. I have assisted several churches with their constitutions and bylaws. And as apart of those efforts, have met with a number of lawyers and tax accountants for the purpose of establishing new churches.