In October 1993 the Internal Revenue Service recognized Churches of Scientology as tax-exempt, charitable organizations.
IRS recognition of the Churches of Scientology did not happen overnight.
The IRS exemption rulings were issued only after the most rigorous and comprehensive examination of any exemption application in United States history.
The recognition resulted from an unprecedented proceeding in
which the IRS had unrestricted access to all records reflecting the policies, structure, operations, and
finances of every Scientology Church and organization in the United States and around the world. IRS
personnel had carte blanche to examine any and all records at their discretion, including conducting
unprecedented on-site inspections at the various Churches of Scientology.
The average exemption application for organizations that are not the Church of Scientology includes:
A) Approximately ten pages of narrative describing an organization and its operations.
B) A review by the local office of the IRS, usually a few hours in length.
By comparison, this is what the Churches of Scientology were subjected to:
A) An application submitted to the IRS.
B) Review by the IRS resulting in thousands of questions, requiring thousands of pages of narrative and foot upon foot of financial records.
C) By the time the Churches of Scientology finally received their decisions, over two years had passed and the largest administrative record ever for any exempt organization—more than twelve linear feet—had been complied.
And rather than having just one meeting with the Commissioner, as reported by The Times, the Church actually was subjected to hundreds of hours of grueling meetings where information had to be provided, over a period of two years, and under three different Commissioners.
But that’s not all. Rather than dealing with low-level bureaucrats at the IRS district office in Los Angeles, home of Church headquarters, the Church was examined by the most senior officials over exempt organizations, at the IRS National Office in Washington, D.C.
In summary, the Church not only did not receive especially favorable treatment, they received especially vigorous treatment, unprecedented in IRS history.
So how did the Churches of Scientology obtain tax exemption?
THEY EARNED IT.
And on that point, the proof is easy to come by since the administrative records submitted by the various Churches of Scientology are available for inspection at the IRS reading room in Washington, D.C. Indeed, those records have been reviewed by various tax-exempt experts and lawyers and every one of them has come to the same conclusion: The record overwhelmingly establishes qualification for tax-exempt recognition by the Churches of Scientology.
Tax-Exempt Recognition continued...
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