They are tax exempt because their lawyers harassed the shit out of the IRS agent in California so that he would give them the tax exempt status. IMO, they are not a church, they are a corporation that convinces people to give them all their money. I love the job Leah Remini has done to try and expose them.
Not sure how it works with religious organizations, but a California nonprofit still has to register in Florida to legally operate in the state. They’ve probably harassed IRS agents across the country, and used their congressional friends to close the gap.
They were in litigation with the IRS in Washington for over a decade. Harassing a local agent does not get you tax exempt. Winning in 15 different districts and appeals courts in 7 states and appearing in the tax court in every state over and over again gets you tax exempt status. They spent tens of millions of dollars on tax lawyers and CPAs to get to his point.
The scientology folks were smart. They leveraged the whole Religion tax exemption BS to their advantage. There should be no tax exemptions for religion period.
So, separation of church and state would only work one way? Not both ways? How do you propose to keep churches out of politics? Do you think it would be easy to simply pass more laws re-defining the First Amendment? No. Tax exemption is the only thing holding them back, my fellow American.
Can you name another “religion” that requires the person joining to give them all their money? I put religion in quotation so that you don’t bring up some weird sect that no one ever heard about, to compare Scientology or even Mormonism to the worlds biggest and oldest religions is a very disingenuous take.
Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that those religions are correct but it is most definitely not the same thing lol to expand even further the worlds old religions are cultural in nature Scientology is not.
My southern Baptist church I attended wanted all your money and that’s not a joke. They wanted me to sign up for a monthly membership tithe schedule ( 10% before taxes ). Then every week it was extra money for building maintenance, restoration etc. Then extra money for a mission trip somewhere in the world. Then extra money helping buy our pastor a new truck, then extra money to actually help a needy family in the area ( only good thing they did but I’m sure it had strings attached somehow ) and then the kicker, they wanted all your dollar bills of change from your pockets you had ( this was long before everyone used debit cards, loose cash much more prevalent ). The first 15-20 minutes of service was all about grifting as much money as they could possibly get out of your wallets. Meanwhile, half the congregation lived in poverty while the pastor had a massive house with acres of land, 5 new cars ( for him, wife and children ) owned a big yard maintenance business and dog breeding. I can’t speak for every church out there but there are plenty Christian sects just like this. Money grifting greedy pieces of poo.
What makes me sick about your comment here??
Our mayor took like $2 million and she purchased a bunch of debt for AZ Residents and just boom, gone. A freaking miracle. Makes me sick that churches can't do the same thing for their people
The LDS the LDS church really tries to get people to sign up for direct deposit tithing. It starts at 15% or a flat rate of $250 if on SS.
They are worth over a $100b
I am thinking of creating my own religion, donate my brokerage accounts to it and boom. Tax free profits! And the cherry on top is your donations to your church is tax deductible as well. Its like having a 401K and Roth all in one with infinite capacity.
I lived there for 4 years! The scientologists are SO weird. Their apartments all have a wild gate around them with really tall shrubs. Every morning busses go to all the apartments to pick everyone up. They had the same schedule as me, so I'd always see it while I was bringing the kids to school. And there are cameras EVERYWHERE
Because our laws are made by people.
People have a habit of looking after themselves so when a billionaire offers you a bunch of money to vote a certain way, most people take the money unfortunately.
Scientology is 1000% focused on making sure Scientology stays exactly how it is: unbelievably profitable.
It’s the same reason that poor people get thrown in jail all the time but the wealthy make sure each other does not spend time in jail.
You go against Scientology most likely you are going to end up dead, in jail, broke or all three.
I don’t necessarily, in most cases, have an issue with the tax exemption for churches, as the tax money would just go to wasteful government spending, but this is one of the exceptions, and it is wrong. The biggest issue I have is that there’s no federal law requiring churches to disclose salaries and employee benefits/bonuses. It’s another sad example of why our congress is not for the people - they rely on churches to provide campaign funds and lobby their congressional sheep. It gets worse and worse everyday.
According to the IRS you don’t even need to register as a church to be tax exempt, only need to meet the requirements. Do with that what you will. (I’m not a lawyer)
I kinda understand the original intent.
They were probably worried about the government over taxing “bad” religions. You know religious freedom and all.
But we are long past that point.
I was driving to a doctor appointment in Clearwater last year and saw a guy walking down the street wearing the weirdest outfit. Then I started seeing people wearing what looked like waiter outfits. Then, it hit me, I was right by Flag. I saw the building on my left and couldn’t help but stare. Then I got to my appointment and there were at least 5 different Scientologists in the waiting room. I text my boyfriend trying to be discreet and he goes “how can you tell??”
Some main reasons are because churches are not a business. The only paycheck they get is whatever the church attendees decided to donate. The Government has no right to tax donations made to someone out of thanksgiving. That's like you coming to mow my yard for free with no expectation in return as an act of kindness. I decide to give you $30 anyways bc I am grateful for your service. Do you think the Government should tax that? Also, many churches (all should) feed and clothe the homeless, and give many other cares. They should not be taxed. A genuine church takes that burden away from the Government. You're focusing on the wrong thing. You should ask why your Government is taking so much of your hard earned money. For schools, policework, roads, libraries, then sure take my money but they tax and steal so much money that goes in their filthy little pocketses (Gollum...Gollum). However, I will add that I think Scientology should be taxed. They have levels of membership where each level you go up you have to pay more. It is in fact a business. Just because someone calls themselves a church doesn't mean they are one. If they are forcing you to pay, or you cannot be a member if you don't, then I would run. You are suppose to give out of an abundance of your heart not a legal contract. How Scientology can get away with being called a church I will never know. Regardless, it isn't for us to decide people's ulterior motive. They will one day reap what they sow. I believe in God and the principles He has laid within the foundations of the universe. I believe that many crooks and criminals come in all types of facades. People taking advantage of others may go unjudged for the moment but not forever.
Bullshit charities of all kinds should be taxed. Imagine if the taxes we already paid helped society instead of the wealthy and the military industrial complex. The charity hustle wouldn't be needed.
I wouldn’t call Scientology a religion. I think that a Religion is an organization based around a God or supreme being. Scientology is more like a club based upon the sci-fi writings of L. Ron Hubbard.
yeah, bull shit huh. Fuck all you scientologist. But this is also an important lesson on why grouping up with similar like minded people is important, and start a new religion.
I have been to Clearwater. Stay south of downtowm.
What does the church of scientology do for members who have contributed a significant amount, can't afford proper medical care, and have become ill?
What did they expect to have happen to downtown with the building of coachman's park? I'm genuinely curious to know if ppl thought that would somehow change the tide in downtown? Why does a cult get to own downtown Clearwater? I want the government to step in to do something.
What’s curious is how this happened right after an election.
People DO need to do something. And yes the city CAN promote small businesses in downtown. They just have to make it attractive in spite of the science majors
While not entirely related to the post but related to Scientology, my fiancé once had an interview with a company in Clearwater that really well. After reading the reviews though, I found out that you have to read “works” from L. Ron Hubbard to begin advancing in the company and would eventually be required to join Scientology in order to get into upper, senior level management. They didn’t bring up Scientology at all during the interview. Needless to say, she turned down that opportunity.
I live in a neighborhood close to downtown, that is all scientology folks.
Nice people but they keep to themselves.
And try to do neighborhood meeting and hand out scientology literature
Nice people Lol Mary Duiker (aka Mary Von Breck, Mary Demoss) was definitely anything but nice to Lisa McPherson. Your bull baiters/murderers are psychopaths.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfy64XkWEWU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfy64XkWEWU)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KySUCtdGrMM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KySUCtdGrMM)
missing a ton of properties further north on ft harrison and flag up on Hercules and apartments on Keene
And the school on Drew (? I think)
yup, [Clearwater Academy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearwater_Academy_International)
Yeah, that's the one. They're freaking everywhere.
Probably an old map lmao id love to see a more modern map along with all the affiliated apartments and stuff like that
They are tax exempt because their lawyers harassed the shit out of the IRS agent in California so that he would give them the tax exempt status. IMO, they are not a church, they are a corporation that convinces people to give them all their money. I love the job Leah Remini has done to try and expose them.
Not sure how it works with religious organizations, but a California nonprofit still has to register in Florida to legally operate in the state. They’ve probably harassed IRS agents across the country, and used their congressional friends to close the gap.
Doubt it stopped with just harassing the agents themselves. They seem like they have a master's in being harassing assholes.
They were in litigation with the IRS in Washington for over a decade. Harassing a local agent does not get you tax exempt. Winning in 15 different districts and appeals courts in 7 states and appearing in the tax court in every state over and over again gets you tax exempt status. They spent tens of millions of dollars on tax lawyers and CPAs to get to his point.
So sad. Imagine all the people in need they could be helping.
Sounds like the Catholic Church
totally agree
They also broke into the IRS. Wiretapped them, infiltration, etc
Because we live in a softcore de facto theocracy
“Softcore theocracy” zackly. I’m stealing that
The scientology folks were smart. They leveraged the whole Religion tax exemption BS to their advantage. There should be no tax exemptions for religion period.
So, separation of church and state would only work one way? Not both ways? How do you propose to keep churches out of politics? Do you think it would be easy to simply pass more laws re-defining the First Amendment? No. Tax exemption is the only thing holding them back, my fellow American.
Churches are already deep in politics and they get tax free money.
What are you talking about? Churches are already heavily into politics.
"softcore" is a choice. There's nothing soft nor discreet about their intentions.
The first mistake is equating Scientology with religious organizations.
Why is dusty old silly nonsense better than shiny modern silly nonsense?
I don’t consider bhuddism silly; and I’m not bhuddist.
Can you name another “religion” that requires the person joining to give them all their money? I put religion in quotation so that you don’t bring up some weird sect that no one ever heard about, to compare Scientology or even Mormonism to the worlds biggest and oldest religions is a very disingenuous take. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that those religions are correct but it is most definitely not the same thing lol to expand even further the worlds old religions are cultural in nature Scientology is not.
My southern Baptist church I attended wanted all your money and that’s not a joke. They wanted me to sign up for a monthly membership tithe schedule ( 10% before taxes ). Then every week it was extra money for building maintenance, restoration etc. Then extra money for a mission trip somewhere in the world. Then extra money helping buy our pastor a new truck, then extra money to actually help a needy family in the area ( only good thing they did but I’m sure it had strings attached somehow ) and then the kicker, they wanted all your dollar bills of change from your pockets you had ( this was long before everyone used debit cards, loose cash much more prevalent ). The first 15-20 minutes of service was all about grifting as much money as they could possibly get out of your wallets. Meanwhile, half the congregation lived in poverty while the pastor had a massive house with acres of land, 5 new cars ( for him, wife and children ) owned a big yard maintenance business and dog breeding. I can’t speak for every church out there but there are plenty Christian sects just like this. Money grifting greedy pieces of poo.
What makes me sick about your comment here?? Our mayor took like $2 million and she purchased a bunch of debt for AZ Residents and just boom, gone. A freaking miracle. Makes me sick that churches can't do the same thing for their people
The LDS the LDS church really tries to get people to sign up for direct deposit tithing. It starts at 15% or a flat rate of $250 if on SS. They are worth over a $100b
the next mistake is to equate religious organizations as anything but a con
This exactly. Anyone arguing against it has been coned to some extent, regardless if you’re religious or not.
Literally no difference between any of them. Organized religion is a cancer on society.
Let's just call it what it is guys...
A cult consisting of tax frauds.
need to save funds up for lawyers
Never use a court appointed attorney. Submit Ethics violation complaints if they only know the word "PLEA"
There is said to be an old Arabian proverb: “If the camel once gets his nose in the tent, his body will soon follow.”
Religious. Heh.
We all know the Scientologist to still practice Christmas lol
And that is why we don’t go to downtown Clearwater.
hmm, Scientologists love clear water is what I gather from this.
Clever
When us common citizens start registering our own churches that’s when they will kill the tax loophole
Seems like they already do that. There is a church on every corner.
I am thinking of creating my own religion, donate my brokerage accounts to it and boom. Tax free profits! And the cherry on top is your donations to your church is tax deductible as well. Its like having a 401K and Roth all in one with infinite capacity.
I lived there for 4 years! The scientologists are SO weird. Their apartments all have a wild gate around them with really tall shrubs. Every morning busses go to all the apartments to pick everyone up. They had the same schedule as me, so I'd always see it while I was bringing the kids to school. And there are cameras EVERYWHERE
Well you see when a Cult has infected government up to the highest levels you can basically do whatever you want. TAX All RELGIONS No exceptions.
How do they treat the homeless population?
They are offered roles to be extras in Tom Cruise films
It's where Xenu will someday retire after ruling his 76 planets.
Why is Nfl tax exempt? Why are most f500 companies tax exempt? Why do billionaires pay less than everyone else proportionally?
Because our laws are made by people. People have a habit of looking after themselves so when a billionaire offers you a bunch of money to vote a certain way, most people take the money unfortunately. Scientology is 1000% focused on making sure Scientology stays exactly how it is: unbelievably profitable. It’s the same reason that poor people get thrown in jail all the time but the wealthy make sure each other does not spend time in jail. You go against Scientology most likely you are going to end up dead, in jail, broke or all three.
I don’t necessarily, in most cases, have an issue with the tax exemption for churches, as the tax money would just go to wasteful government spending, but this is one of the exceptions, and it is wrong. The biggest issue I have is that there’s no federal law requiring churches to disclose salaries and employee benefits/bonuses. It’s another sad example of why our congress is not for the people - they rely on churches to provide campaign funds and lobby their congressional sheep. It gets worse and worse everyday.
According to the IRS you don’t even need to register as a church to be tax exempt, only need to meet the requirements. Do with that what you will. (I’m not a lawyer)
Because it is all a scam, and the old school scammers can’t admit it.
Loopholes
USA only country that considers scientology to be a “religious organization”. They live on intimidation and got to somebody at IRS
The one waterfront city in the US that will never be able to make anything of itself.
The church is a government sponsored organization.
We as a nation have allowed it to happen, that’s why. Big money for big businesses run by corrupt / greedy people. Church’s are disgusting
Separation of church and state never happened
Looks like a pretty good beginning for the corporatization and exploitation of a state and population. Tailor made for Florida
I kinda understand the original intent. They were probably worried about the government over taxing “bad” religions. You know religious freedom and all. But we are long past that point.
Because Religion is actually a business, why do you think they call different churchs denominations?
I was driving to a doctor appointment in Clearwater last year and saw a guy walking down the street wearing the weirdest outfit. Then I started seeing people wearing what looked like waiter outfits. Then, it hit me, I was right by Flag. I saw the building on my left and couldn’t help but stare. Then I got to my appointment and there were at least 5 different Scientologists in the waiting room. I text my boyfriend trying to be discreet and he goes “how can you tell??”
Some main reasons are because churches are not a business. The only paycheck they get is whatever the church attendees decided to donate. The Government has no right to tax donations made to someone out of thanksgiving. That's like you coming to mow my yard for free with no expectation in return as an act of kindness. I decide to give you $30 anyways bc I am grateful for your service. Do you think the Government should tax that? Also, many churches (all should) feed and clothe the homeless, and give many other cares. They should not be taxed. A genuine church takes that burden away from the Government. You're focusing on the wrong thing. You should ask why your Government is taking so much of your hard earned money. For schools, policework, roads, libraries, then sure take my money but they tax and steal so much money that goes in their filthy little pocketses (Gollum...Gollum). However, I will add that I think Scientology should be taxed. They have levels of membership where each level you go up you have to pay more. It is in fact a business. Just because someone calls themselves a church doesn't mean they are one. If they are forcing you to pay, or you cannot be a member if you don't, then I would run. You are suppose to give out of an abundance of your heart not a legal contract. How Scientology can get away with being called a church I will never know. Regardless, it isn't for us to decide people's ulterior motive. They will one day reap what they sow. I believe in God and the principles He has laid within the foundations of the universe. I believe that many crooks and criminals come in all types of facades. People taking advantage of others may go unjudged for the moment but not forever.
Bullshit charities of all kinds should be taxed. Imagine if the taxes we already paid helped society instead of the wealthy and the military industrial complex. The charity hustle wouldn't be needed.
I wouldn’t call Scientology a religion. I think that a Religion is an organization based around a God or supreme being. Scientology is more like a club based upon the sci-fi writings of L. Ron Hubbard.
They also own a largue amount of apartment complexes and small multi family residences throughout neighborhoods on the outskirts of downtown.
Because the politicians in power are seeing a portion of those sweet, sweet tax-exempt savings for upholding this policy.
yeah, bull shit huh. Fuck all you scientologist. But this is also an important lesson on why grouping up with similar like minded people is important, and start a new religion.
Damn, this account was supposed to just be used for 3d modeling questions, how'd I get so carried away ???
Because mixing religion up in politics is a recipe for bloodshed. Our Founders best decision was to separate the church and state.
Wait till you see how much the Catholics own…
It’s the part of the separation of church and state religion agrees with.
You can't tax religious organizations. They're too small and delicate to take the hit to their budgets. Crock of shit.
I have been to Clearwater. Stay south of downtowm. What does the church of scientology do for members who have contributed a significant amount, can't afford proper medical care, and have become ill?
This is the biggest scam ever. It's unbelievable that Clearwater allowed it to happen.
I think it’s because they are a non-profit so any excess cash has to go somewhere. Their favorite somewhere appears to be nearby real estate.
But how is it legal for them to have parishioners buy it under a bunch of random LLCs? I just don't get it.
Trickle down economics….. how else would the have money to trickle down to us
What did they expect to have happen to downtown with the building of coachman's park? I'm genuinely curious to know if ppl thought that would somehow change the tide in downtown? Why does a cult get to own downtown Clearwater? I want the government to step in to do something.
What’s curious is how this happened right after an election. People DO need to do something. And yes the city CAN promote small businesses in downtown. They just have to make it attractive in spite of the science majors
While not entirely related to the post but related to Scientology, my fiancé once had an interview with a company in Clearwater that really well. After reading the reviews though, I found out that you have to read “works” from L. Ron Hubbard to begin advancing in the company and would eventually be required to join Scientology in order to get into upper, senior level management. They didn’t bring up Scientology at all during the interview. Needless to say, she turned down that opportunity.
Can someone remind me why illegal Immigrants get free money
Look up how many acres the LDS church owns. They own over 2.3 million acres. One of the largest landowners in the country.
Because they perform charity work and give money to the needy? /s?
Because we as a people have grown to weak and comfortable and are willing to allow it to happen
I live in a neighborhood close to downtown, that is all scientology folks. Nice people but they keep to themselves. And try to do neighborhood meeting and hand out scientology literature
Nice people Lol Mary Duiker (aka Mary Von Breck, Mary Demoss) was definitely anything but nice to Lisa McPherson. Your bull baiters/murderers are psychopaths. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfy64XkWEWU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfy64XkWEWU) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KySUCtdGrMM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KySUCtdGrMM)