US Democratic presidential candidates reject plan to link church tax status, LGBT policy
Washington, DCRNS A comment last week by candidate Beto O’Rourke that churches and faith-based institutions should lose their tax-exempt status if they don’t support same-sex marriage has brought criticism from two of his rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. At least two other Democratic White House hopefuls have rejected the former Texas congressman’s proposal, arguing […]
US clergy housing allowance is constitutional, appeals court rules
RNS A US federal appeals court has ruled that the clergy housing allowance authorised by the Internal Revenue Service is constitutional. The Freedom From Religion Foundation argued successfully in a Wisconsin district court that the long-standing exemption for religious housing in the IRS tax code violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause. But a three-judge panel […]
In the US, Johnson Amendment remains intact in latest omnibus spending bill
RNS The part of US tax law that prohibits houses of worship from engaging in explicit political activity will remain intact for now, despite concerns that Republican lawmakers would try to repeal it in the latest massive federal spending bill they released this week. The more than 60-year-old law, often referred to as the Johnson […]