An “officially secret agreement” What. The. Fuck. Is. That?
How the mother FUCK did this happen? The Church of Scientology has a special, exclusive and fucking SECRET agreemnt with the IRS? How is this legal? Who the fuck is responsible?
What fucking right does the IRS have to refuse to provide this agreement to the public?
SDMB attorneys, isn’t this completely fucking illegal and unconstitutional? How can the IRS unilaterally give a special tax status to one religion?
Something stinks to high heaven here and I can’t help but think it involves large sums of money passing hands. Can the IRS decide tax exempt status on its own or does there have to be legislation?
I’m completely spinning out over this. What happened?
I have to finish reeling in horror at the notion of a Scientological school. Then and only then can I reel in horror at the tax ripoff scheme/scandal. It should take about six months, maybe more. I mean, can you imagine what kind of crazy fucked up school that would be? And what kind of crazy fucked up mess of a curriculum they would have? All L Ron, all the time. Eeps.
Pretty funny, Dio! I mean it, very droll, couldn’t have done better myself, making up some kind of Bizarro World/parallel universe thing where this kind of weird-ass shit might actually happen. I’ve just got to click your link, must go to some fake NY Times site, kind of like that WhiteHouse.org thingy that pretends to be…(click)…
Oh, dear God.
In a situation like this, there is only one thing to do. But the liquor store is closed.
Hey, I’ve spent quite a lot of time within the very walls of a Scientology school. (Looked after a Scientologist friend’s seven-year-old a lot, and often took him to/from school.)
I saw teachers solemnly pronounce bullying as “down-stat” behaviour, and rush to provide “touch-assists” to kids that had hurt themselves on the playground. (Teacher: “I need you to locate yourself in space and time, Timmy. Where are you?” Mudd: (internally) “Knock it off! Just bust out the iodine! Argh!”)
Ah well. When the hell did the Church of Scientology get on good terms with the IRS? There’s a relationship that’s evolved in a surprising way.
I forgot: “Little Johnny, you go to the principal’s office” was replaced with "Little Johnny, report to Ethics!"
Not that there’s anything wrong with that-- It’s just that, combined with the uniforms, it seemed to have a vaguely fascist vibe, from where I was sitting.
It’s not happening, they’re just making it up. Larry and Diogenes are just a couple of scamps, and somehow they got the NY Times to play along with the joke, just to scare the bejabbers out of poor ol’ e., that’s what it is, just a practical joke, right, guys? Guys? Ha, ha! Ha? Ha?
And now for a non sarcastic yet not terribly well infomed comment:
I bet if you check,Catholic schools and other religious institutions are not taxed either. As to agreements with the IRS, no IRS documents are availible to the public. If the Church of Sci. (which I happen to believe L.Ron started as a tax shelter) has been granted tax exempt status as a religion then it is entitled to the same exemption as any other religion. I may think they’re cooky, but I think that about most (well probably all) religions but it is not my call.
Did you read the article or the OP? It’s not about having tax-exempt status… all religious organizations have that… it’s about being able to claim tuition to a private religious school as a tax deduction.
Not surprising at all. Someday a journalist who doesn’t mind being sued into oblivion, their personal life, reputation and career stomped on, shredded, then burned to ashes, should look into the relationship between the IRS and $cientology. I’m sure it would involve all kinds of intrigue and blackmail.
That would be interesting. Too bad it will never happen.
Read the article. The tax exemption is exclusive to Scientology schools. It’s not an exemption for the church but for the parents who send their kids to those schools. People who send their kids to Catholic schools do do not get a tax break for it.
OK, now that I have read the article I have not changed my mind much. In my own defence I did say my comments would not be sarcastic or well informed. I think after reading the article that there is much left out. Thats why I think reviewing court cases is best done by lawyers. Granted, many lawyers are complete idiots, but generally having passed the Bar Exam they can identify the issues. The article did not do this. I can hardly offer a response unless I know the Tax Code under which the plaintiff claimed an exemption, or the Tax Code under which Scientologists get the supposed exemption. Also some background on “Special Agreements” with the IRS would be nice.
Are you sure you read it thoroughly. Essentially, the agreement allows parents who send their kids to Scientology schools to write off the tution as a charitable donation. This option does not exist for any religious school but Scientology.
Do I need to draw you a picture? C’mon, guys, Scientology and the IRS working together? Heck, what organizations are more alike! They’re based on weird, indiscipherable things. They’re ruthless if you get on their bad side. No one really knows what goes on in the organization. They’ll gladly take all your money…
Yes, I read it thoroughly. I am not suggesting that it is innacurate, just that it did not provide enough information to form an opinion. Sure kneejerk opinions will be plentiful, but informed opinions cannot be made based on the limited information provided. (and no, I am not going to research the issue. My complaints are addressed to the article, the author made claims, it is his obligation to support them, which he certainly did not.)
My duaghter is in a Catholic school and I do not get to write off here tuition, but I am also expected to pledge $800 to the church each year that gies to the school. I do get to writ off this amount as a charitable contribution. I do not know how the figured out the $800 amount its is less than a third of the annual tuition. Why not pledge the whole amount? I gues the IRS would get mad.
