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Annotated Bibliography based on research question,

Should Religious Institutions Should Pay Taxes?
ProCon.org. (2013, February 19). Churches and Taxes ProCon.org. Retrieved from
http://churchesandtaxes.procon.org/
In this article the author talks about the major historical events and laws and
that have been passed in regards to the taxation of religious institutions in
the United States. It also lists pros and cons of taxing these types of
institutions and gives the reasons of why people support and are against
taxing religious institution. This article is important because it will help me
see and analyze the two points of views that these two groups have and why
they have them. It will also help me understand the positive and negative
effects of the governments decision not to tax religious institutions.
Oppenheimer, M. (2015, June 28). Now's the Time To End Tax Exemptions for
Religious Institutions.

Retrieved October 23, 2015.

The authors explains to the audience that religious institutions shouldnt be

tax-exempted because the taxes that these institutions dont pay have to be
drawn from private citizens and other entities and also because many of
these institutions can go through many loopholes to accumulate great
amounts of wealth, while many citizens accumulate poverty. Also the author
comments about how governments shouldnt have to rely on religious
institutions to solve the problem of poverty. This article is useful because it
provides good reasons to support religious institution taxation.

Exemption Requirements - 501(c)(3) Organizations. (n.d.). Retrieved October 24,

2015.
In this website, information is provided by the IRS, in regards to the
requirements and restrictions that on organizations must meet in order to be
considered a 501(c)(3) Organization or a charitable organization. This website
also mentions that the main restrictions that they have, are that they cant
influence or participate in any political activities and no money can go to any
individual in organization. This information is relevant because it shows the
restrictions that these types of organizations have and with the help from
other sources I will be able to understand better if religious institutions are
violating any restrictions that they have.
Yglesias, M. (2013, August 22). We Should Be Taxing Churches. Retrieved October
24, 2015.
Matthew explains to the audience that all religious institutions should all be
taxed in non-discriminatory way because most of their expenses goes to
upgrading their facilities, instead of helping people. The author also mentions
that religious institutions should be allowed to make comments on
controversial topic and politics but they would have to be taxed to create
more equality between the citizens that pay taxes and these types of
organizations. This information is relevant because it will me understand
better the reason why religious institutions should pay taxes in the United
States.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Televangelists [Motion picture]. (2015). United
States.
This video informs the audience using comedy about the methods that many
televangelist use to take advantage of people that believe in these ministers
to help them, by telling that they have to send money to them and most of
the time, that most of times goes to their personal benefit. Also the video
mentions that its perfectly legal for them to do this because the regulations
that have been imposed to them are vague and minimal, which allows them
to go through loopholes to become rich. This information proves to be
important because this shows a specific example of how many religious
institutions abuse their tax exemption status for their benefit.
Barker, D. (n.d.). Religious Tax Breaks Show Governments Favoritism. Retrieved
October 25, 2015.

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Burk explains to the audience that while many people in the United States
support the taxation of religious institutions, they shouldnt because taxing
these institutions would actually weaken them because people wouldnt
donate that much money to these institutions and because many wouldnt be
able to operate due the taxation that they would have to receive, thus ending
them. He also mentions that this taxation of religious institutions would hurt
the poor and the vulnerable the most. This information is relevant because it
helps me understand better why people some people are against church
taxation.
Stanley, E., & Lynn, B. (2008, September 23). Why don't churches pay taxes?
Retrieved October 24,

2015.

In this article Stanley and Lynn are debating whether the federal taxing laws
restrict free speech of churches. Stanley starts by saying that the
government refrains some religious institutions from commenting by deciding
which institutions to punish and which not to by using the Johnson
amendment to only punish views or comments that the government doesnt
agree with. Lynn then responds to this by saying not being able to comment
on only certain things shouldnt cause the destruction of these institutions.
This article is relevant because it shows me how truly and how far the
separation of church and state is actually enforced in the United States and
to see why people support not taxing religious institutions.
Beres, D. (2012, December 11). How To Make $71 Billion A Year: Tax the Churches |
Big Think. Retrieved

October 25, 2015.

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Beres mainly talks about how many religious institutions in the United States
provide less social aid than many business such as Walmart and that most of
their income actually goes to operating expenses. He also mentions that by
taxing religious institutions the government would earn more money to spend
on social aid programs and other pressing matter and religious institutions
would be allowed to comment on politics and other controversial issues. This
information is important because this allows me to understand better why
religious institutions should pay taxes.

Top 10 Reasons Churches Should Not Be Tax Exempt. (2014, October 21). Retrieved
October 25, 2015.
In this article the author talks about how in order for government to function
properly they must meet certain requirements that can be meet through
efficient taxation and economics. By not taxing religious institutions the
government is not functioning properly. Furthermore that author gives the
audience reasons why religious institutions should pay taxes in the United
States and within this reasons the author says that that taxing these
institutions would improve society and would create more equality. This
information will help enhance my knowledge about why religious institutions
should be taxed.

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Barker, D. (n.d.). Religious Tax Breaks Show Governments Favoritism. Retrieved
October 25, 2015.
Barker here mentions that the current law in regards to religious institutions
taxation allows them to abuse their status for their benefit because lack of
regulations that they have opens the door for scams. Also the author
mentions that the current status that they have, shows favoritism towards
religious institutions. This article is important because it provides more
knowledge in regards to reasons of why religious institutions should be taxed.