Samaritan’s Purse Will Have to Pay State Taxes for Volunteer Coronavirus Hospital in New York

Samaritan’s Purse, which operated a field hospital in New York for the coronavirus outbreak, will have to pay state taxes.

According to CBN News, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the group will have to pay taxes on their hospital because the state is “not in a position to provide any subsidies right now.”

The field hospital, which is now shutting down after more than a month in the city, has served some 300 patients in New York City, Christian Headlines previously reported.

Rev. Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse, said New York lawmakers asked for help with the pandemic.

“They’re the ones who called us originally,” referring to officials with the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. “We didn’t call them; they called us,” he said. “And we agreed to go and we have not charged them one penny. All of our services have been paid by God’s people.”

Ken Isaacs, vice president of programs and government relations for Samaritan’s Purse, said he was also surprised to learn the organization would have to pay taxes.

“I said, ‘What?’” Isaacs said. “[The financial comptroller] said, ‘Yeah, there’s a law. If you work in New York state for more than 14 days, you have to pay income tax.’ I didn’t know that.”

Isaacs said he’s also concerned about the paperwork and “bureaucracy” involved in paying taxes to the state.

Since…