Atheist Group Sues IRS

Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), an atheist activist group based out of Wisconsin has filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), alleging that its “preferential treatment of churches” in the federal tax organization violates the United States Constitution.

The FFRF feels that churches shouldn’t be exempt from basic financial reporting requirements and “equally important, why would churches not wish to be accountable?”

In part the suit reads: “The plaintiffs seek a declaration that preferential application and informational filing exemptions for churches and certain other religious organizations and affiliates under §501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as the equal protection rights mandated by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.”

FFRF co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor explains, “having tax-exempt status is a great privilege, and in exchange for that privilege, all other groups must file a detailed report annually to the IRS and the public on how we spend donations.”

The FFRF has been very active in its agenda on the separation of church and state. This is the third lawsuit file be the group since August. In November the group files a lawsuit against the IRS for failing to enforce its requirement of disallowing churches to become involved in endorsing political candidates. The FFRF also filed a lawsuit against the IRS in August that challenged housing tax regulations that benefitted members of clergy.

Tags: atheist, irs, constitution, church and state, government

Category: Ministry News