Meta Description: Due to the freedom that comes with tax exemption, churches have prospered and benefited society in various ways. Can this principle be applied to the Church of Scientology?
INTRODUCTION
Good morning to one and all. I've come to speak about whether or not the Church of Scientology should be exempt from paying taxes.
In October 1993, the Interior Revenue Service (IRS), America's federal tax agency, recorded the Church of Scientology International (CSI), which is considered the Mother Church of the Scientology religion and includes 150 affiliated Churches, missions, and social reformation organisations in the United States, as religious organisations that are fully tax-exempt.
IRS
For nearly half a century, the Church of Scientology has fought the IRS to be free of IRS harassment and receive the tax exemption that all religions in America are entitled to. In 1991, Mr David Miscavige, Chairman of the Spiritual Technology Centre Board and the ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology cult, bypassed the bureaucracy and met with the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service to begin an objective tax-exemption approach.
For two years, the IRS undertook the most thorough examination of any religious tax exemption applicant in IRS history. IRS officials subjected Churches of Scientology to the most extreme inspection ever imposed on a business, including a microscopic examination of their operations and financial records and a thorough examination of every area of Church policy and practice at the most basic levels. By the end of its investigation, the IRS had combed through over one million pages of information on the Scientology religion.
The IRS had to determine that first, Scientology may be a real religion; second, the Churches of Scientology and their related charitable and academic institutions are operated exclusively for recognized religious purposes; third, The Scientology Churches and its affiliated charity and academic institutions strive for the common benefit rather than for the personal gain of individuals; and finally, the Scientology Churches, as well as their affiliated charity and academic organisations, operate for the greater good of the public rather than for the benefit of individuals.
CONCLUSION
CSI and SMI, their subordinate Churches and missions, RTC, and Scientology's holy places Mecca could not have been classified as churches under the Code unless the IRS determined that they possessed all of the fourteen Church criteria significantly stated.
Put another way; the IRS couldn't have designated CSI, SMI, and the other Church of Scientology applicants as churches under the Code unless it was convinced that Scientology is a religion. As a result, the IRS's acceptance of the Scientology Church's tax-exempt status properly recognises Scientology's religious nature and its overall benefit to society. Thank you for your time and consideration, and have a pleasant day.
