Town bans pagan temple after finding out its not Christian

[struggle4progress]

58. One question will be whether the activities are church or business

Contrary to the view often expressed in this forum, you can't just conduct business-like activities and claim exemption from the usual laws, such as tax laws, by declaring yourself a church

... Certain characteristics are generally attributed to churches. These attributes of a church have been developed by the IRS and by court decisions. They include: distinct legal existence; recognized creed and form of worship; definite and distinct ecclesiastical government; formal code of doctrine and discipline; distinct religious history; membership not associated with any other church or denomination; organization of ordained ministers; ordained ministers selected after completing prescribed courses of study; literature of its own; established places of worship; regular congregations; regular religious services; Sunday schools for the religious instruction of the young; schools for the preparation of its ministers. The IRS generally uses a combination of these characteristics, together with other facts and circumstances, to determine whether an organization is considered a church for federal tax purposes ... Unlike churches, religious organizations that wish to be tax exempt generally must apply to the IRS for tax-exempt status unless their gross receipts do not normally exceed $5,000 annually ... http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf

Just because he says it's a church, doesn't mean the tax authorities would consider it that. I discussed his beliefs and services pages because the questions of having "recognized creed and form of worship; .. formal code of doctrine and discipline; .. regular religious services" and so on, are relevant to the question of whether he has a church

... Whether or not a church is involved in an activity that could result in it owing <unrelated business income tax> is based upon a three-part test (all three have to be present):
1. Is the activity generally considered a trade or business? This usually means that the activity involves providing the sale of goods and services in exchange for payment ...
2. Is the activity regularly carried on? Most church bake sales occur on certain designated weekends, and accordingly are not viewed as being regularly carried on ...
3. Is the activity substantially related to an exempt purpose? If the activity does not contribute in an important way to the exempt purposes of the church, it could lead to tax liability ... http://churchexecutive.com/archives/does-the-church-bake-sale-threaten-your-tax-exempt-status

A red flag here is that he calls his operation "Temple and Store" and provides it a webpages primarily dedicated to sales

One might distinguish between sales, substantially related to an exempt purpose, and other sales. I mentioned the bat's blood and graveyard dirt as potentially falling into the first category, whereas it seems harder to argue that pagan-themed bumperstickers, clothing, jewelry, CDs, and mugs fall into the first category

I mentioned the Buddha statue because it is completely unclear from his beliefs-page whether selling Buddha statues is substantially related to an exempt purpose