Invent A Church, Skip Taxes, Enrage IRS, Go To Jail

[gcomeau]

19. I said "etc" for a reason.

And you don't seem to be getting me. I already told you point blank there is ZERO reason to think the IRS doesn't know this. What the heck do you think reporting them would be testing?


The bottom line is you seem to think the IRS just checks these items off and if you meet them all you're a church and if you don;t you're not. but even the IRS's own publications set the grounds for all the fudging they can do on which criteria get applied. To quote their own guide directly:

"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"

Or, in other words, they'll apply these characteristics in any combination they feel like based on however they're deciding to evaluate things based on the situation and who it is doing the applying (a.k.a 'other facts and circumstances').


Or... as I've said already, "they know a real religion when they see one".