I'm going to become my own religion to avoid tax!

June 24, 2009 by Curt Siters

The story begins...

An Asheville church’s plans to tear down two old buildings it owns has been delayed for 30 days in hopes of saving the structures.

 OK, so churches have property. They do have to meet somewhere. Here my question is why are they allowed to purchase property they aren't going to use?

Mount Zion bought the buildings to gain control over its surroundings...

Well, that explains it! They want to control their surroundings! The story goes on to say that they purchased the buildings to prevent development that might interfere with what they do and to allow for future expansion. OK that sounds reasonable (except for the controlling the surrounding bit).

What came next in the article next blew my mind...

...the structures have become a financial burden, Harris told the city’s South Pack Square Redevelopment Committee at a June 8 meeting. Homeless people have trashed the interiors, and the maintenance costs and property taxes are a financial drain.

“Those buildings are income-consuming and not income-producing for us,” said Harris. “Personally, I’m tired of baby-sitting old buildings.” He said the church has no long-term development plans for the property, which could be used for parking.

What? A non-profit organization looking to turn a profit? With homeless people living in them they want to turn it into parking? Excuse me? I thought what part of Christianity was about was to help those less fortunate. Or am I mistaken?

Well, lessee, become a non-profit, buy property, turn a profit and not pay tax on the income. Sounds good to me. I'm going to file for 501(c)3 status tomorrow!

Thanks to The MountainXpress!

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Curt Siters is an Independent Associate for Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. He is also aYoung Living Essential Oils Independent distributor and publishes articles on YourWebReference and at TheVeryEssence. He also does web work such as website design, website maintenance and SEO for websites.

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