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Evangelical Group Wins Compromise In Settlement of Suit Over Tax Exemption

By Howard M. Friedman

Kenneth Copeland Ministries on Monday announced the settlement of a lawsuit it had filed against Tarrant County (TX) Appraisal District challenging the denial of a tax exemption (see prior posting) for a $3.6 million jet owned by the evangelical religious group. BNA Daily Report for Executives (3/3/2010) [subscription required] gives further details. At issue was the county's requirement that the application for an exemption include the names, positions and salaries of all the organization's employees-- some 600 in total. KCM, which separately had been resisting Congressional demands for more financial information, refused to furnish the data arguing that it was protecting the privacy rights of its employees and the more general privacy rights of churches. In its view, only the Internal Revenue Service has authority to obtain this type of information from non-profits.

In the settlement in Eagle Mountain International Church Inc. v. Tarrant Appraisal District, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. 342-235701-09, agreed judgment entered 2/16/10, the county agreed to have KCM's employment records reviewed by a CPA who specializes in religious organizations. The county accepted as sufficient a report from the CPA that KCM's employee compesation was reasonable, without the underlying data going to the government.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on March 04, 2010 (boomark / email).