At least one religious watchdog group said Wednesday that the newly instituted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that applies the federal income tax to parking benefits provided by churches, is a step in the right direction towards transparency in church finances, as the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability wages a campaign to repeal it.
“Even if it affects our own church, I would vote yes [to the provision],” Pete Evans, lead investigator at the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, which has been tracking religious fraud and helping victims of religious fraud for almost 30 years, told The Christian Post.
As a result of the new provision many historically tax‐exempt employers, including churches, hospitals, charities, and schools will be required to file federal Form 990‐T, which accounts for unrelated business activity. In many cases, these tax-exempt organizations will also have to file state corporate income returns every year regardless of whether they actually engage in any unrelated business activity, according to the ECFA. This new requirement, argues ECFA’s president Dan Busby, is likely to create various administrative and financial costs for many churches who do not have the means to meet them.
“Working in the church world…
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