IRS: Churches Can Endorse Political Candidates Without Losing Tax-Exempt Status

The IRS said in a new federal court filing that churches can endorse political candidates to their congregations without risking the loss of their tax-exempt status.

“Communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services through its usual channels of communication on matters of faith do not run afoul of the Johnson Amendment as properly interpreted,” the IRS said in the joint filing Monday with the National Religious Broadcasters group in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

“When a house of worship in good faith speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith, it neither ‘participate[s]” nor ‘intervene[s]’ in a ‘political campaign,’ within the ordinary meaning of those words,” the filing said.

The filing was part of a joint motion by the IRS, the National Religious Broadcasters, and two Texas churches, Sand Springs Church in Athens, and First Baptist Church Waksom, located in Waksom, to settle a lawsuit through a consent judgment.