Asklemmy

That's a reasonable question, and I'm open to different points of view on what exactly that means.

In a general sense, I believe taxes are the price of admission for society. We all contribute, and we all benefit from roads and schools and firefighters and streetlamps and building inspectors and and and on. A church benefits as much as any other business, and really should be taxed like a business. They are in the business of fundraising, and money spent on fundraising and supporting the church should be taxed. I also think money spent on charitable works should be tax deductible the same way it is with other businesses. Money donated to churches in excess of the charitable work they do should not be tax deductible by the donor.

In an ideal world, that would mean paying income tax at the established rates, property taxes, payroll taxes for non-charity workers, and whatever municipal and state taxes are required wherever the church is located.

But as I said, that leaves the door wide open for abuse by politicians looking to promote their own faith. There are already corrupt policies promoting "social clubs" in dry towns, and morality taxes on products like cigarettes, HFCS beverages, alcohol, marijuana where it's legal, etc. Don't you think they'd find a way to tax the Satanic Temple into oblivion given the opportunity?

How many Christian holidays are promoted through the federal holiday calendar? Winter Break never doesn't coincide with Christmas.

So yeah, in conclusion, churches that don't operate as "not for profit" businesses should not be tax exempt, but keeping government out of religion is more important to me.