Church tax-exempt status creates pitfalls for election-year actions

Published: 2004-05-28

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The election-related pitfalls of federal tax-exempt status held by many religious institutions apply to everything from homilies and newspaper editorials to voter guides and political ads, an attorney for the U.S. bishops explained to a group of Catholic press editors May 26. At a workshop for the Catholic Press Association convention, Deirdre Dessingue, of the general counsel's office for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the Internal Revenue Service makes clear distinctions between lobbying, which is permitted under the codes for tax-exempt entities, and political campaign activity, which is not allowed under the rules for what are known as 501(c)(3) organizations. It's that tax-exempt status, not some part of the U.S. Constitution, that creates the legal need for religious organizations to tread carefully in election years, she explained. "Nothing in the Constitution prohibits Catholic organizations from getting involved in political campaigns," she said. "As far as the government is concerned, church-run entities that don't want tax exemptions are free to speak out on political issues whenever they want."

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