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PS.
"One idea being bandied about is nonprofits whose executives make over a certain amount would be liable for taxes[...]"
Not that we have any executives, but do you know what that "certain amount" might be? Again, it helps give me clarification before I respond. Thanks again.
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So the issue is abuse of their tax free, non profit status.
When churches are providing expensive homes to their pastors tax free, and venturing into vast real estate investments, again tax free, then they need to be investigated, revealed and handsomely fined for gaming the system.
If it's a rampant problem that the IRS is unwilling or unable to adequately address, perhaps it's time for religious institutions to lose this benefit. Other non profits shouldn't get penalized too though, just because there's this one especially bad apple in the bunch.
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I don't think religious institutions need to lose their tax free status, just tax them on their obviously commercial enterprises. I wouldn't tax anyone, church or not, on money destined for real charitable work, but the definitions of charitable work might need a bit of tweaking to make it very easy to understand what counts and what doesn't.
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
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I see no problem with not taxing churches.. but they should be required to prove that they provide contributions to the community.. in one form or another.
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TomK - I think VancouverIslander made my point for me - if monies come in for obviously commercial enterprises - and I would include the rental of facilities as one of those - then those monies should be taxed. As far as the idea that certain nonprofits would be liable for taxes based on executive's pay (and I assume the discussion is about both property and income taxes), you'd have to read the stories to see what they're talking about. State or local government would decide what these amounts are. I think the bottom line that these states and municipalities are considering is that if an entity is cash or property rich, they need to pony up. How you set that level of wealth, I don't know, I'm just saying that these are the things being discussed in a lot of states and municipalities.
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Has anyone noticed how much land the Catholic Church owns in Puna,(especially near Pahoa) almost all of which is completely unused for any purpose?
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noticed how much land the Catholic Church owns in Puna
Owning vacant property seems quite a bit different from owning property, building, and operating a business on it. Especially given that non taxed church businesses can operate at an advantage over tax paying entities.
If the Catholic Church offers acreage to the 'io and pueo, good, maybe the birds will keep the rat population down in the area surrounding Pahoa.
Four people are in a room and seven leave. How many have to enter again before it's empty?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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vacant property seems quite a bit different
Especially if you keep it vacant, thereby reducing the stock of buildable property.
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quote:
Originally posted by glassnumbers
nnnnd their whole thing....has so little to do with Hawai'i. Their very rules orientated, uptight, very white people culture does not connect at all with the island.
I can't believe I'm defending Mormons, but...you seem to not be very familiar with the pre-contact kapu system. Or with the history of Mormonism in Hawaii and Polynesia. Laie was the second LDS temple built after SLC, and most church members here are Hawaiian and Samoan (e.g., Mufi Hanneman).
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DT, thanks. It seems you don't really mean taxing all non-profits, just some that meet certain criteria (with which I think I'm in agreement). The observatories clearly don't reach those criteria as they're not rich and don't make money from commercial enterprises. All the money they receive from their funding agencies goes into operations, wages, research, and public outreach.
