Kansas bishops blast proposal to tax religious nonprofits
March 09, 2010
The Kansas House of Representatives is debating legislation that would compel religious nonprofits to pay sales taxes.
“As originally drafted, House Bill 2549 would have repealed the sales tax exemption enjoyed by all non-profits, as well as a host of other organizations,” the Kansas Catholic Conference noted in a March 4 statement. “However, the bill was amended in committee so that only religious non-profits, including churches, would lose their tax exemption.”
“Thus the bill in its current form discriminates against organizations that serve the poor if they happen to be religiously affiliated. If passed, Catholic Charities will have to start paying the sales tax, whereas an organization that performs a similar service but is not religiously affiliated will not. This is not only bad policy, but it may well be unconstitutional.”
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Further information:
- State Targets Churches for Increased Taxation (Kansas Catholic Conference)
- Kansas Bishops Protest Bill Taxing Church Expenses (LifeSiteNews.com)
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