Churches tax free?

taxing churches will not address those issues, tax exemption for churches doesn't address those issues either.

 

homestead exemptions
elderly exemptions
handicapped exemptions
veteran exemptions
disability exemptions

most of the above do not exempt the property owner from property tax liability in entirety...but, a lower assessed home AND the exemption can make the tax liability little to nothing.

and then, there is the issue I noted earlier of sports stadiums and complexes and theaters and casinos. not only do many of them have property tax exemption deals...some have outright construction costs paid in part by the city/county/state...

does this also make your property tax higher? do you have issue with it as well? or...is it just your dispise of the church that provided your opinion?

 

I have no objection to 4 of exemptions you listed above, homestead exemption is the only one I don't entirely agree with.
I'm also very much in favour of exemptions for schools and hospitals.

as for sports stadiums, theaters, and casinos, if they are not owned by the city/county/state they should be subject to property tax as well.

again, I don't hate/despise/loath the church, it's just not for me. the topic of this thread is church and taxes, so that is why my focus has been on churches.

 

Here's one concept I can't quite understand . To me , if all land owners ( including churches etc ) paid property taxes etc , I see that as a level playing ground for everyone , those who attend / support churches , and those who don't .

Many in this thread have opposed this idea by citing the charity that churches provide for the poor and less fortunate of their community , and at the same time a number of these same posters support the US moving to a flat tax system , that unless I am missing something , would increase the tax burden on the poor and less fortunate .

I'm not sure how you reconcile these two seemingly conflicting concepts .

 

Does the catholic church own more than 1/2% of the property of the US. Not likely. Your link has no perpective to the total or as a percentage.

The catholic church is a large organization, adding up all the relatively small holding of church/school/cemetary land they own makes up a large number since they are many in number.

My guess is the largest part of their holdings is cemetary land.

But all cemetary land is tax exempt in the US.

 

thanks for your answer

the homestead property tax exemption in Florida is wonderful.
how would you like to build a home...work your whole life...and be a senior and have to sell your home because the assessment has increased to a point where you can not afford the tax liability. and that was the intention of the law, to allow people to save their homes.

exemption for private schools?

and hospitals are a for profit business, but you want them to be exempt?

sorry man, but you are all over the map on this one.

and I know the tread is about churches/taxes. I was pointing to other examples to give it context.

 

simple

pass fair tax legeslation. it eliminates ALL other taxes.

NOTHING levels the tax liability for ALL better.

and, as a bonus...it removed power from politicians who use the tax laws to manipulate and buy votes.

FAIR TAX FTW!!!

 

Is the homestead exemption , not simple a deffering of taxes ?

 

Would that not increase the tax burden on the percentage of your population that now pays little to no taxes ?

ie : the poor and less fortunate ?

 

X2

For some posters that don't seem to be able to grasp this concept

 

admittedly, I only read a small portion about how homestead exemptions work before I posted. knowing now that the exemption is only on the first $50,000 of the assessed value (likely varies by location) I can say that it does have merit.

private schools are a little more dicey, as I'm sure some are much more focused on profit than others.

I guess my perception of hospitals is different because we (Canadians) have universal healthcare and they are publicly funded.

 

Your missing my point.
Taxes on churches will do nothing to help people in need. Except churches will not help people as much (ie poor people, the homeless) if they have to pay more. Then they can not help society as much.
It is called a 501(c)3 corp. So I would rather have a church have extra money to help poor people than some government program since there is already plenty of those.

 

NYC cracking down on abuse of 501(c)3

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/nonprofits_kiss_tax_breaks_goodbye_y4a6tVHN2IDOkmMVKZjNFN

 

exemption law

http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/exmptns.html

 

So?? Every program is abused in some way or another. It does not mean that all 501(c)3 are bad. I guarantee most do a lot to help people in need

 

nope

defer means to pay later. not the case.

Florida homestead exemption reduces the tax burden on residence and only allows for a 3% annual increase in assessment.

the hidden wolf though is...it has zero effect on milleage rate, so in effect...the breuacrats could raise the milleage rate to meet their budget.

no problem though...they do that, we vote them spenders out!

 

that's the liberal talking points mantra.

'bout time those who pay no tax ante up...huh?

47% of Americans pay no federal tax.

in most cases..."poor" in America is not poor, when you have new Nike's and an I-phine and a plasma TV.

as a compassionate conservative...I, like most, would be receptive to certain exemptions for those in need, and for food, school supplies, medical needs, etc.

but I'll be dammned if they get a free ride on a new pair of sneakers or designer shades or bling wheels fo they pimped ride. Eff that.

The FAIR TAX levels the tax liability.

Daddy big bux buys a new yacht for 5 million...he pays BIG. Joe blow buys a new kayak, he pays a little.

simple stupid.

 

Falsely claiming a property that is being rented for commercial use qualifies for tax exemption should result in criminal charges, not just loss of exemption.

 

Thanks

 

I realize that , we have a deferal option , that's why I asked