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The tax status of the Church of Scientology in the United States has been the subject of decades of controversy and litigation. Although the Church of Scientology was initially partially exempted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from paying federal income tax, its two principal entities in the United States lost this exemption in 1957 and 1968.
On November 5, 2007, United States Senator Chuck Grassley announced an investigation into the tax-exempt status of six ministries under the leadership of Benny Hinn, Paula White, Eddie L. Long, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Copeland by the United States Senate Committee on Finance.
One goal of the Church of Scientology is to be recognized as a religion or a tax-free charity, which has met resistance from several governments, with Scientology taking to the courts with varying results. For example, Scientology's path to legal recognition as a religion in New Zealand took 48 years and several lawsuits. [8]
A county official reportedly told state Sen. Donzella James they revoked the church’s property tax exemption because its title included a person’s name (even though it always has).
The Church of Scientology's interest is to be recognized as a religion as well as a charitable organization. Max Halupka observes "While a tax-exempt status is not a legal declaration of religious authenticity, the significance afforded the status by the public serves to color its true purpose.
But the church, she says, was actually a cult. Walker spent her formative years, since age 8, in the group. She says it was a place where members were unable to question leaders "without facing ...
After being recognized as a tax-exempt religious organization in 1957, Scientology's tax-exempt status was lost in a 1967 IRS audit. [5] As part of the effort to regain tax exemption during the late 1970s, Scientologists repeatedly infiltrated the IRS, copying large numbers of documents and at one point placing an electronic bugging device in an IRS conference room. [5]
Reports linked a group who lay claim to a stretch of public land to the fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its convicted sex offender leader Warren Jeffs. This was not ...