Knowledge is protection when the IRS is involved. I'm Darrin Mish, a tax attorney in Tampa with 32 years of experience representing taxpayers nationwide. Here's what I want you to understand.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
But what has become of the reports made to the IRS? According to Time Magazine, the agency has dropped its investigations into the churches<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n