Pulpit Politics Ruling Shifts Leeway Back to IRS: BGOV Tax

Church Political Speech Leeway Shifts to IRS

A court’s dismissal of an agreement that would have allowed religious leaders to make political endorsements now leaves it up to the IRS on whether to provide guidance on the subject.

The so-called Johnson Amendment, passed by Congress in 1954, threatens a group’s tax-exempt status if they explicitly oppose or endorse candidates. Taking away nonprofit status for political speech is seldom used, but political speech in services falls under an opaque area of tax law.

A Trump administration agreement struck between the IRS and National Religious Broadcasters would have given religious leaders that ...