Pulpit Freedom Sunday 2009
It was only last year on September 28 that the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) organized its first Pulpit Freedom Sunday. Pastors of churches across the country were urged to use their pulpits to endorse or oppose a certain presidential candidate. According to the ADF, they were not favoring any particular candidate but it did seem strange that all 33 church pastors who participated either endorsed Republican John McCain or opposed Democrat Barak Obama. Americans United for the Separation of Church and State observed each pastor like hawks to see if any of them would flout the law. They reported six of them to the IRS.
This year, the ADF is going to organize another Pulpit Freedom Sunday, this time on September 27. However, this year's event is going to be scaled down as only the states of New Jersey and Virginia would be electing their governors. But there will be some local elections in other parts of the country.
But what has become of the reports made to the IRS? According to Time Magazine, the agency has dropped its investigations into the churches. In at least one case, that of Pastor Gus Booth of Warroad Community Church in Minnesota, the reason the IRS gave for ceasing its investigations was a 'procedural' problem. But the IRS made it clear that when the procedural problem is sorted out, they may resume investigations.
In the case of Pastor Booth, the IRS issued an official letter regarding the procedural problem in which reference was made to Section 7611 of the Internal Revenue Code which governs church audits. Section 7611 stipulates that a senior-level IRS official must sign off on church audits. In other words, the IRS had to cease investigations into Pastor Booth and his church because the official who signed off the church's audit was not high ranking enough. If the need arose, Pastor Booth could have challenged the IRS' investigations in court based on this technical fault and would have won. The IRS was aware of this and promptly retracted its investigations in order to correct this issue.
In correcting the matter, the IRS issued new rules in relation to church audits. The new rule states that the director of exempt organizations is authorized to sign off on church audits. The director is deemed senior enough and his signature would suffice to settle the issue. The issuance of this new rule shows that the IRS is making the necessary amendments in order to investigate any church that may contravene the law by openly endorsing or opposing a candidate for a public office.
Darrin T. Mish is a veteran, nationally recognized tax attorney who has focused on providing IRS help to taxpayers for over a decade. He regularly travels the country training other attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents on how to handle their toughest cases with the IRS. He is highly ranked among the top attorneys in the country, with an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell and a perfect 10 on Avvo.com. Martindale-Hubbell has also honored him with a listing in their Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He is a member of the American Society of IRS Problem Solvers and the Tax Freedom Institute. With clients on every continent but Antarctica, he has what it takes to solve your IRS problems no matter where you live in the world. If you would like more information about his practice and how he can help you, please call his office at (813) 229-7100 or toll free at 1-888-GET-MISH.
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