Church’s Short-Term Rental House Isn’t Tax-Exempt, IRS Says

A short-term rental house owned by a church but made available to the public doesn’t qualify for tax-exempt status, the IRS has ruled.

While proceeds from renting the house help support the church’s missions and ministries, renting a facility to the public is an unrelated trade or business that doesn’t exclusively further an exempt purpose, the IRS said in a Jan. 6 ruling that was publicly released Friday.

The two-story, four-bedroom house can be rented by businesses and organizations to host meetings, retreats, and conferences, or by travelers visiting the area. All revenues from the rentals are donated to the ...