{"id":28211,"date":"2025-07-09T15:42:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=28211"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:42:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:42:49","slug":"irs-indicates-churches-may-endorse-candidates-without-losing-tax-exempt-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/07\/irs-indicates-churches-may-endorse-candidates-without-losing-tax-exempt-status","title":{"rendered":"IRS Indicates Churches May Endorse Candidates Without Losing Tax-Exempt Status"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Left: Tada Images \/ stock.adobe.com | Right: Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Internal Revenue Service recently indicated that churches and pastors may endorse political candidates during religious services without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.<\/span><\/p>\n

This development follows a recent court filing involving the IRS, the National Religious Broadcasters Association (NRB), and two churches. The parties argued that the Johnson Amendment\u2014a 1954 law restricting tax-exempt organizations from engaging in political campaigning\u2014violated their First Amendment rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the joint filing, the IRS stated that when a church communicates with its congregation during religious services about electoral politics, provided this is \u201cviewed through the lens of religious faith\u201d and done \u201cin good faith,\u201d it should not be categorized as political activity.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Johnson Amendment, named after then-Senator Lyndon Johnson, historically limited nonprofit organizations, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. While enforcement has been infrequent, the law has acted as a boundary between religious activities and political campaigning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Opponents of the Johnson Amendment have called for its repeal, asserting that it restricts religious leaders\u2019 speech. In 2017, then-President Donald Trump directed the Treasury Department to ease enforcement of these rules via executive order.<\/span><\/p>\n

The IRS\u2019s approach appears to reflect this directive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some advocacy groups see this as a change supporting speech rights, while others express concern that it could lead to increased political activity within religious contexts.<\/span><\/p>\n

A 2017 Lifeway Research poll reported that nearly 80 percent of Americans do not support pastors endorsing political candidates from the pulpit, though more than half also disagreed with revoking a church\u2019s tax-exempt status for such endorsements.<\/span><\/p>\n

Supporters of the change argue that the government should not regulate speech during sermons if it reflects religious beliefs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The related court case is still pending in federal court in Texas, and the settlement awaits approval. Currently, the IRS website maintains that 501(c)(3) organizations are prohibited from engaging in political campaign activity.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Internal Revenue Service recently indicated that churches and pastors may endorse political candidates during religious services without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status. This development follows a recent court filing involving the IRS, the National Religious Broadcasters Association (NRB), and two churches. The parties argued that the Johnson Amendment\u2014a 1954 law restricting tax-exempt organizations from engaging…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":28214,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIRS Indicates Churches May Endorse Candidates Without Losing Tax-Exempt Status<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The IRS says pastors may endorse candidates during services without losing tax-exempt status, sparking debate in churches.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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