Church Commits Tax Fraud… paper Blames Atheists...

[Dardedar]

Church Commits Tax Fraud… and the Christian Post Blames Atheists for Pointing It Out

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Hemant Mehta
Remember a couple months ago when the Freedom From Religion Foundation put this billboard (and several others) up in Columbus, Ohio?

Matrix Media Services, working with Clear Channel, placed that particular billboard in a location that turned out to be on Christ Cathedral Church’s property.

If it was public property, then there should have been no reason to remove the billboard. But since the church owned the space (and rented it out to the billboard company), the billboard went to a new location.

But that raised another question: If the church owned the property, and they were leasing it out (and making money off of it), shouldn’t they have to pay property taxes?

FFRF looked into the issue… and they couldn’t find any evidence that the church had done that. So they asked Franklin County Auditor Clarence Mingo II to investigate the matter.

Mingo couldn’t find any record of it, either.

The rest...

[kwlyon]

This is actually kinda sad....it is entirly possible they were just that ignorant....didn't know they were doing wrong. I mean SOMEONE knew....SOMEONE was responsible for this in the church. They did wrong...and because of that the church as a whole will have to pay. Someone would have wised up eventually. I must say the irony is amusing.

[David Franks]

kwlyon--

A couple of comments from the "Christian Post" article cited in the article Darrel linked to:

I would think that a church that has the business acumen to enter into real estate purchase contracts, including one for a multi-tenant commercial property, and which apparently negotiates leases, and which contracted to renovate their building, would have a lawyer who would have advised them on the tax consequences of owning rental property. If not a lawyer, then a tax accountant-- or TurboTax."

In order to file for tax exempt status, they would have to do the paperwork involved, and would be given information on the legal requirements before being granted the status. Second, they would have to fill out specific tax forms every year noting a deductible. If an auditor simply missed it, that's not really the issue. If the church filed their taxes improperly, the bare minimum they should be held accountable for is penalties against the sum of money, as every cent not paid to the deficit accrues interest. They should be accountable for their share of the interest as well, and the extra hours spent tracking down their paperwork by the government.

What kind of church leadership are we looking at here?

The most amusing irony is in the comments following the Christian Post article. The "atheists" are, on the whole, much more polite than the "Christians". (The superior articulation of their points comes as no surprise.)