Cleaver: GOP forcing churches, charities to pay for massive tax breaks

(From Fifth District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver)

Many of you have likely heard about a new tax reform policy affecting churches and charitable organizations.

Due to the passage of the recently passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, churches, synagogues, and other nonprofit organizations will begin paying a 21 percent tax on some fringe benefits including those for transportation, meals, and parking.

Not only will the GOP tax bill add over $1.4 trillion to the deficit, but they are forcing places of worship and charitable organizations to pay for these massive tax breaks.

This is something that is unprecedented.

Places of worship have long received tax-exempt status. There are synagogues, churches, organizations paying thousands of dollars in taxes that they have never had to pay before.

Next week, I will host a meeting with clergy and charitable organizations in the Kansas City metro area to inform them of this new policy. I have asked Brandon Casey from the House Ways and Means Committee, in Washington, D.C. to join me to help answer questions and address concerns regarding this new tax on churches. 

I co-sponsored H.R. 6504 the “Stop the Tax Hike on Charities and Places of Worship Act”, introduced by my colleague, Congressman James E. Clyburn of South Carolina.

This bill will repeal the provision of the Republican tax bill that would increase taxes on charities and places of worship and pay for it by raising the corporate tax rate by a single percentage point.

I will not stand idly by while religious institutions and charitable organizations bear the brunt of the new tax plan.