Church of Scientology – IRS Tax Exemption

[SeesSeas]

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/14/us/scientologists-granted-tax-exemption-by-the-us.html

Scientologists Granted Tax Exemption by the U.S.

Published: October 14, 1993
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13— The Government said today that it had agreed to grant a tax exemption to the Church of Scientology and more than 150 of its related corporations, ending one of the longest-running tax disputes in American history.
"This puts an end to what has been an historic war," said Marty Rathbun, president of a Scientology organization that received a tax exemption. "It's like the Palestinians and the Israelis shaking hands."
Officials at the Internal Revenue Service and the Scientology group declined to spell out the details of the settlement and would not explain why it had finally been reached after four decades of costly and bitter court fights.
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[SeesSeas]

http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/09/u...ing-journey-from-tax-rebel-to-tax-exempt.html

Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt

MARCH 9, 1997

On Oct. 8, 1993, 10,000 cheering Scientologists thronged the Los Angeles Sports Arena to celebrate the most important milestone in the church's recent history: victory in its all-out war against the Internal Revenue Service.
For 25 years, I.R.S. agents had branded Scientology a commercial enterprise and refused to give it the tax exemption granted to churches. The refusals had been upheld in every court. But that night the crowd learned of an astonishing turnaround. The I.R.S. had granted tax exemptions to every Scientology entity in the United States.
''The war is over,'' David Miscavige, the church's leader, declared to tumultuous applause.
The landmark reversal shocked tax experts and saved the church tens of millions of dollars in taxes. More significantly, the decision was an invaluable public relations tool in Scientology's worldwide campaign for acceptance as a mainstream religion.
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[SeesSeas]

http://www.scientology.org/faq/church-funding/significance-of-irs-ruling.html

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE IRS RULING REGARDING CHURCHES OF SCIENTOLOGY?
The battle with the Internal Revenue Service was finally and favorably resolved on October 1, 1993. On that day the IRS issued letters recognizing the Church of Scientology International and its related Churches and organizations—all 150 of them—as tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

 

[SeesSeas]

http://www.scientologyreligion.org/landmark-decisions/church-of-scientology-irs-tax-exemption.html
Church of Scientology
IRS Tax Exemption
October 1993
Church of Scientology International (CSI)—the Mother Church of the Scientology religion—and more than 150 affiliated Churches, missions and social-reform organizations in the United States were recognized as fully tax-exempt religious organizations by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), America’s federal tax agency, in October 1993.
For nearly half a century the Church of Scientology had battled the IRS to be free from IRS harassment and to attain exemption from taxation afforded all religions in America. It was finally Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center and the ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion, who bypassed all bureaucracy and in 1991 personally met with the Commissioner of the IRS to initiate an objective tax-exemption procedure in 1991.
For two years the IRS conducted the most comprehensive examination of any applicant for religious tax exemption in IRS history. IRS officials subjected Scientology Churches to the most intense scrutiny ever faced by any organization—including a microscopic review of their operations and financial records and a comprehensive review of every aspect of Church policy and practices at all levels. By the end of its examination the IRS had reviewed more than one million pages of information concerning the Scientology religion.
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[SeesSeas]

http://fortune.com/2015/04/08/scientology-tax-exempt/

How much does Scientology pocket from its tax exempt status?
Updated: Apr 08, 2015 3:58 PM Eastern
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When the IRS finally granted the church tax-exempt status, after an unconventional meeting between the then-commissioner Fred T. Goldberg and Scientology's current leader David Miscavige, the financial ramifications were felt far and wide. Not only did the IRS stop demanding income taxes from the church, but local governments and states followed suit and granted the organization tax-exempt status. […]

 

[SeesSeas]

Scientology vs. IRS

On 1 October 1993, the Church of Scientology obtained tax exemption from the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Lots of document links here:
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/essays/irs.html