Additionally, consider all the other "religious" properties across this nation that citizens are subsidizing with no say about how they operate.
TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION!
They do not believe in Satan, they do not worship a diety, they do not believe in the supernatural. They "believe" in rational inquiry, critical thinking, and reasonable agnosticism.
I like them a lot better. It's easier for the masses to see who they worship.
I have been ready for tax exempt status for all charities to end. Several of the local churches operate rental properties and do not pay tax on it or its income. Shameful really.
It depends on which "Satanists" you mention. A large portion most certainly do worship Satan. Even Anton Lavey progressed to a belief in a dark lord which he came to worship. Read some of his last writings.
The OP is addressing the fact that citizens who have no affiliation with any belief system(bs) or one of many belief systems, is in fact subsidizing all other bs by allowing them to be exempt from certain taxes.
The revenue to compensate for these exemptions are passed along, most often as property taxes to all other property owners in the community.
While the citizens in the community pay the taxes, these property owners have no say in how the organizations are run.
Therefore, taxation without representation!
Wrong. Property taxes are local taxes, usually at the county level. Tax exempt organizations, usually 501(c)-(3) organizations, don't pay federal income taxes. Citizen taxpayers don't directly subsidize them but only to the extent that these organizations don't pay taxes. We are not compensating them by paying more in property taxes. And it's not like we pay more income taxes because there are tax-exempt organization.
Tax exempt status is given to organizations that serve the communities. Churches are not like all other tax exempt organizations because churches are the only organizations that are directly written in the tax code. Churches do not depend on a 501c3 status to be tax exempt. Everyone else does. Churches would have to be written out of the tax code.
It takes my county X dollars per year to operate. It takes the state X dollars per year to operateAll the non-profits who pay no property tax means every other property owner has to pay more tax to meet the required X amount of revenue.
Same can be said for fed and state income tax.
Do you think that governments should pay property, sales, income, ect, to other levels of govt?
The purpose of tax exempt is that non-profits preform a service for the community.
Now, many non-profits receive funds from the government - so if they had to pay tax -
they would need more funds to operate.
Now, if a non-profit (including a church) is involved in a money making activity - ie rental apts - and they
are making a profit - then yes - they should pay tax on that.
But - suppose - the value of an apartment
is $300 - but a person is only charged $100 - should tax
be paid on that "profit"?
In some cases govt does pay other govt tax. The Federal govt. compensatesvthe county I live in for thousands of acres it lost tax revenue on when the Corps if Engineers built 2 lakes here.