Churches & Taxes

U. S. churches own about $4,000,000,000 of the $19,000,000,000 of U. S. tax-exempt property. In every State, either constitutionally or by statute, exemption is granted on property used for religious purposes; in many States church property of all kinds is exempt. Among liberals, this exemption, in effect a subsidy, is an abhorrent reminder of oldtime domination of the State by the Church. Nevertheless, the movement toward taxing churches has made little headway. In fact, the trend ran in the other direction last Nov. 3, when the voters of Colorado amended the State Constitution to permit exemption, which State courts had denied. But last week liberals were well content with a modest gain registered in the Indiana General Assembly.

Indiana's Tax Survey Commission had backed a bill to place all revenue-producing religious and private educational property on the State's income tax rolls immediately. Churchmen and educators opposed the measure, but as the Assembly wound up its session last week both Houses suddenly passed, and Governor M. Clifford Townsend signed a compromise bill. This bill provides that all such institutions must pay taxes on revenue-producing property, which they never had done before. However, they will be given seven years of grace to dispose of or reorganize such property. Hard hit by the new law will be Catholic University of Notre Dame at Notre Dame. Its big stadium and dining hall may go on the tax rolls.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.