The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has decided that an Internet and radio worship operation does not meet its definition of a church.
According to Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is not an unusual one, based on past precedent. The criteria that must be met to dub an organization as a “church” requires it to have a recognized creed and form of worship and a formal code of doctrine, and it must hold regular religious services.
“The IRS has a criteria that to be recognized as a church for tax purposes, you need to look and act like a church, which typically requires some kind of regular place of meeting, be it a particular location or home,” Staver explains.
But the attorney argues that does not mean the Foundation of Human Understanding cannot obtain tax-exempt status as a non-profit organization. It just does not fit the definition of a church, he says. “The court said that worship on the Internet or a church on the Internet in cyberspace does not meet the IRS criteria to be recognized as a church,” Staver reports.
But the Liberty Counsel founder suggests that since more and more people are turning to modern technology for everyday activities, including biblical instruction, the IRS may wish to revisit the subject at some point in the future.
(Source: OneNewsNow)