A Serious Question

I have a question that I haven't been able to answer, despite a reasonable amount of time searching the web.  The question is this:  How much revenue does the government (Federal, State and local) lose because of religious tax exemptions?  Because the earnings of churches are exempt, I suspect that no accurate number exists, but there must be some relatively reliable estimates.  Does anyone have any idea where I can answer this question?

I found a link to an apparently no-longer-functioning site that gave the amount as over a trillion dollars a year, but as the site seems to no longer exist, I can't verify that number in any way.

Here is why I am interested:  If I were in charge, this is the very first place I would look to diminish government's budgetary problems.  A trillion or so a year, spread out over Federal, State and local governments would go a long way toward balancing the budget, and between the behavior of Catholic priests and Muslim clerics, and the vicious insanity of evangelicals these days, I can't see what we are getting in return for our largesse, other than crime, corruption, hatred and greed.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm 100% with you on this one. Would a group of atheists who meet in a building that they own to discuss atheism be given any tax breaks on this building? I'm pretty sure they would not.

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