Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Christian ethics and theology with an Anabaptist perspective
ken_sylvania
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Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Post by ken_sylvania »

From Soloist's comment in the "wealthy among us" thread.

I would be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on this. I do recognize that there may be differences between US and Canadian law on some of these matters that might affect some of this.
Soloist wrote:Do we really want to have our church registered?
AFAIK, churches in the US do not have to be registered in order for donations to be tax deductible. Do you know of anything different?
Soloist wrote:Do we want to receive government funds for operation?
Hardly. But how is this receiving government funds for operation?
Soloist wrote:Do we lightly say the government is not made up of people too? They know who we are and thus it violates Jesus's teaching.
If I understand you right, you're referring to Jesus' command that our alms be in secret. Is this correct?
If that is the case, how do you feel about the widow who Jesus observed giving her two mites? Was this a violation of Jesus' command? How about Barnabas, who sold land he owned and gave the money to the Apostles.

I'm not saying your position is not valid, but I'd like to explore it a bit more if we could.
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appleman2006
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Re: Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Post by appleman2006 »

Here was my reply in the other thread.

I guess I am a bit confused. How are churches or even we for that matter receiving government funds?

I believe that as Christians it is quite clear that we are required as a direct command in Scripture from Christ himself to pay our taxes. But in no place do I see that we are asked to pay more than we owe which is exactly what a person is doing that does not claim his legitimate charitable receipts. If you are in a refund position it is not the government paying you. Rather than are paying back your money which was never theirs to begin with.

In our countries the government has asked employers to be tax collectors for them and to collect taxes in advance of year end. But until you file your income tax statement it is technically not theirs because they have no way of knowing what you really owe. They are simply holding it as an advance payment. If you pay more than you are lawfully required to for any reason, that is technically a gift to them. Because the government spends so much on things I do not approve of not to mention the extreme waste, I would consider it to be very poor stewardship on my part to give them money I am not required to give by law or by scriptural command.

The reason governments set up this receipt method for charitable giving in the first place is because in the past very wise people in government recognized the fact that NGOs were much better at do social work than the government. they recognized that private industry made a dollar go much much further as a rule than what anything connected to government ever could. Many people have forgotten that. and I expect it is only a matter of time that the hammer will be dropped on this. Particularly for churches. But until it does I will take advantage of it very cheerfully and be very thankful that our governments are still smart enough to do things this way.

I do have a question and maybe this does not apply to you in the US. But here in Canada churches are also exempt from paying property tax. Would you insist that your church also makes a donation to the government to offset that? Because I would see that as the very same thing.
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appleman2006
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Re: Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Post by appleman2006 »

To add to that churches here in Canada must be registered as a charitable organization in order for receipts to be allowed to be filed on your tax return. I have no problem at all with this as anything less would be a huge opportunity for fraud. Churches as I understand it get almost rubber stamped in their application for charitable status particularly if they belong to a well known denomination. Other organizations may have to jump through a few more hoops. The government does than at random do audits on churches books to ensure primarily that churches are actually receiving the funds they are receipting for and also to ensure that no one is using it as a means to directly benefit one's self. (A flow through funds sort of system).
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Josh
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Re: Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Post by Josh »

My church and my church’s school has zero government licence or funding.

The government has decided any contributions to either are tax deductible. That is between the giver and the government.

If the government took that away, it would not change how we do things - other than that some of my wealthier brothers would have a bit less to give due to a heftier tax bill.
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appleman2006
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Re: Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Post by appleman2006 »

I would argue that anyone that gives would have less to give, not just the wealthy.
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Neto
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Re: Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Post by Neto »

Until a couple of years ago, in my personal practice, I strictly applied the text about giving alms in secret to all giving. But the text is really talking about alms. Someone already referred to a couple of people whose giving was reported in Scripture, and there is no indication of 'censorship' for their having been observed. So after thinking more about this in the last few years, I have decided to make use of the provisions under the law, and to request receipts where appropriate, and have started using our congregation's number system to get a year end tax receipt. (I don't actually make enough for it to make any difference over the standard deduction, but anyway...) Personally, I would not use the numbered envelope for any offering that is going for alms, but that's just my take on it. I think that the main thing is to not give for show - to impress anyone else (even the tax guy :roll: ).
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ken_sylvania
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Re: Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Post by ken_sylvania »

appleman2006 wrote:I would argue that anyone that gives would have less to give, not just the wealthy.
That would depend on whether a person is itemizing deductions. If a young family does not have a mortgage (mortgage interest is deductible) and makes less than $80k annually there is a likelihood the standard deduction might be larger than their itemized deduction even if they do give a 10% tithe.
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Hats Off
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Re: Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Post by Hats Off »

Our mortgage interest is not deductible! Think I will move to Flint, MI!
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Soloist
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Re: Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Post by Soloist »

I had wrote out a lengthly reply, but I think that my answer is reasonable to say this is a personal opinion that isn't held by many and I cannot argue my stance without potentially causing offense over a matter of conscience. I'm willing to go into more details in a private message as for my reasons but I would rather bow out of this discussion.
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ken_sylvania
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Re: Taking Tax Deductions for Church Giving

Post by ken_sylvania »

Hats Off wrote:Our mortgage interest is not deductible! Think I will move to Flint, MI!
You won't have any deductible mortgage interest there either. You can buy a house there for about the down payment on one in Lancaster Co. PA.
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