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D:\Political & Campaign Activity of Religious Orgs - 2004 S
AMARAWEERA
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Suite 900
1150 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
Rohan J. Samaraweera
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Telephone

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Bar Admissions
(202) 785-1985
District of Columbia
Internet E-Mail Address
Telecopy
Massachusetts
SamaraweeraLaw@earthlink.net
(202) 785-1912
January 14, 2004
FROM: Rohan Samaraweera, Esq.
RE: A Do and Don't List of Lobbying and Political Activities for Churches, Synagogues and
Mosques; Summary of the IRS Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations (IRS
Publication 1828, July 2002)

This memorandum provides a summary of the permissible and impermissible lobbying and
political activities for tax exempt churches, synagogues and mosques as listed in the Internal Revenue
Service's publication, Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations, (herein "the Guide").
As a caveat to using the Guide, readers should note that the Guide states that its contents reflect
solely the IRS's interpretation of tax laws enacted by Congress, Treasury regulations, and court decisions.
The Guide covers subjects on which a court may have made a decision more favorable to taxpayers than
the interpretation by the IRS. Until these differing interpretations are resolved by higher court decisions,
or in some other way, the Guide will present only the interpretation of the IRS.
As used in the Guide, and in this memo, the term church, although not used by all faiths, is used
in its generic sense as a place of worship to include mosques and synagogues. The use of the term
church also includes conventions and associations of churches as well as integrated auxiliaries of a
church.
This memorandum is not an exhaustive analysis of the Guide, and nor does it attempt to deal with
the full range of tax issues that a tax exempt organization must comply with in order to continue to be
eligible to maintain its tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
("the IRC"). Among those several tax rules, the two that are summarized in this memo are that: 1)
churches must not devote a substantial part of their activities to attempting to influence legislation,
commonly referred to as lobbying; and, 2) churches must not participate in, or intervene in, any political
campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.
I.
LOBBYING ON LEGISLATION:
Legislation is defined, in the Guide, as action by Congress, any state legislature, any local
council, or similar governing body, with respect to acts, bills, resolutions, or similar items (such as
legislative confirmation of appointed officers) or action by the public in a referendum, ballot initiative,
constitutional amendment or similar procedure. Legislation does not include actions by executive,
judicial, or administrative bodies.
A church will be regarded as attempting to influence legislation if it contacts, or urges the public
to contact, members or employees of a legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or S
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RE: Summary of Political Activities for Churches, Synagogues and Mosques
January 14, 2004 page 2 of 7
opposing legislation, or if the church advocates the adoption or rejection of legislation.
Churches may involve themselves in issues of public policy without the activity being considered
lobbying. For example, churches may conduct educational meetings, prepare and distribute educational
materials, or otherwise consider public policy issues in an educational manner without jeopardizing their
tax-exempt status.
Whether a church's attempts to influence legislation constitutes a substantial part of its overall
activities is determined on the basis of all of the facts and circumstances in each case. The IRS considers a
variety of factors, including the time devoted (by both compensated and volunteer workers) and the
expenditures devoted by the organization to the activity, when determining whether the lobbying activity
is substantial. Churches must use the substantial part test since they are not eligible to use the
expenditures test.
Under the substantial part test, a church that conducts excessive lobbying activity in any taxable
year may lose its tax-exempt status, resulting in all of its income being subject to tax. In addition, it is
subject to an excise tax equal to five percent of its lobbying expenditures for the year in which it ceases to
qualify for exemption. Further, a tax equal to five percent of the lobbying expenditures for the year may
be imposed against organization managers, jointly and severally, who agree to the making of such
expenditures knowing that the expenditures would likely result in loss of tax-exempt status.
II.
PARTICIPATING OR INTERVENING IN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS:
All IRC Section 501(c)(3) organizations, including churches, are absolutely prohibited from
directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in
opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. According to the Guide, contributions to political
campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made by or on behalf of the
organization in favor of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition
against political campaign activity. Violation of this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-
exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.
Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and
circumstances. For example, certain voter education activities (including the presentation of public
forums and the publication of voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not
constitute prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other activities intended to encourage people
to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would not
constitute prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a non-partisan manner. However, voter
education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another,
or (b) oppose a candidate in some manner, or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of
candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.
Church Leaders Action in Individual Capacity:
The political campaign activity prohibition is not intended to restrict free expression on political
matters by church leaders speaking for themselves, as individuals. Nor are leaders prohibited from
speaking about important issues of public policy. However, for their organizations to remain tax-exempt
under IRC Section 501(c)(3), religious leaders cannot make partisan comments in official organization
publications or at official church functions. To avoid potential attribution of their comments outside of
church functions and publications back to the church, the Guide encourages religious leaders who speak S
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RE: Summary of Political Activities for Churches, Synagogues and Mosques
January 14, 2004 page 3 of 7
or write in their individual capacity to clearly indicate that their comments are personal and not intended
to represent the views of the organization.
The Guide provides the following examples of situations involving candidate endorsements by
religious leaders that do not jeopardize the church's tax exemption:
Example 1: Minister A is the minister of Church J and is well known in the community. With their permission,
Candidate T publishes a full-page ad in the local newspaper listing five prominent ministers who have personally
endorsed Candidate T, including Minister A. Minister A is identified in the ad as the minister of Church J. The ad
states, "Titles and affiliations of each individual are provided for identification purposes only." The