Supreme Court says Maine cannot deny public funds to schools that promote religious instruction

[Marthe48]

125. In Ohio

and I'm not sure about other states. bear with me and forgive any errors I might put in. It has been 30 years since i worked in food service.

When I worked in food service, I was a cook and I got federal minimum. Waitresses got paid under the federal minimum. This is because it was assumed they would get tips. I was working at a small local restaurant when the federal govt. ruled that waitresses and other people who get part of their income from tips, had to add 15% to their gross. I thought it was really unfair, because the government assumed that all patrons would tip 15%. The reality was that many patrons tipped 0% and many more tipped 10% or less. Things might have changed for waiters since I worked in food service.

I brought this up, because I don't see a problem with estimating income to any church, and taxing that amount. If the government enacted taxing on churches, they could estimate the value of real estate, average number of attendees, and other considerations and come up with a fair tax. If the church felt the tax was too high, they could submit receipts of the weekly gate from sermons, gross and net on church suppers, and other sources of income. IRS does that for independent contractors. I had to hire a tax accountant, and she would explain the forms as she filled them in. She had me measure my house, measure my office, calculate cost of utilities for my office and equipment and help me get as many deductions as she could. The government could hire new tax experts, auditors and so on to help the churches get used to paying their fair share.

Or, the churches could stop preaching politics from their pulpits. Problem solved.