A view of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 11, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
The IRS said in a new federal court filing that churches can endorse political candidates without risking the loss of their tax-exempt status.
The move upends a 70-year-old interpretation of the U.S. tax code, whose Johnson Amendment has barred non-profit groups, including churches, from endorsing political candidates without putting their tax-exempt status in jeopardy.
“Communications from a house of worship to its congregation in connection with religious services through its usual channels of communication on matters of faith do not run afoul of the Johnson Amendment as properly interpreted,” the IRS said in the joint filing with the National Religious Broadcasters group in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
“When a house of worship in good faith speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith, it neither ‘participate[s]” nor ‘intervene[s]’ in a ‘political campaign,’ within the ordinary meaning of those words,” the filing said.
The filing was part of a joint motion by the IRS, the National Religious Broadcasters, and two churches, Sand Springs Church and First Baptist Church Waksom to resolve a lawsuit through a consent judgment.
Those churches and the NRB sued the IRS last year, alleging that the Johnson Amendment violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and expression of religion, as well as other constitutional violations.
A judge has not yet ruled on the motion for consent judgment.
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