General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Should Churches Be Taxed? [View all]Prophet 451
(9,796 posts)My personal position is that any particular church should be obliged to keep two sets of books (kind of, that metaphor doesn't really work but I can't come up with a better one). There is X amount of money going in.
From that, one side would be the business a church does as a church; missionaries, publicity, congregational business, etc and that would be taxed at whatever rate we agree on.
The other side would be genuinely charitable activities like soup kitchens, homeless shelters/blankets/clothing, food banks and so on and that side would be tax free but is not allowed to proselytize beyond leaving "this meal provided by church X" leaflets around (I really hate the trick of forcing hungry people to listen to a sermon before they're allowed to eat). That side is also not allowed to discriminate with who it employs (although most churches here (UK) will take you if you can handle a ladle).
I'm unsure which side "souls to the polls" would fit in. On the one hand, you could argue that those bussed by a church are likely to vote a certain way, making it a church expense. On the other hand, increasing voter turnout is always a civic good so it could be argued as charitable.