While we continue to wait for Treasury to finalize the proposed regulations issued in 2009 (!) under Internal Revenue Code 7611 , churches subject to IRS church tax inquiries continue to challenge the approval process for those inquiries. Late last month, another federal district court concluded that the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TEGE) Division Commissioner is a sufficiently “high-level Treasury official” to approve such inquiries under that section. In God’s Storehouse Topeka Church v. United States, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas rejected the church’s arguments that only a higher official – either the Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement or perhaps only the Commissioner or Treasury Secretary – are of high enough rank. In doing so, the court relied heavily on the reasoning that led to the same conclusion in United States v. Bible Study Time, Inc., 295 F.Supp.3d 606 (D.S.C. 2018). The court also rejected other objections to the IRS’ third-party summons in the case.
Hat Tip: EO Tax Journal.
Lloyd Mayer
