IRS Official: We are "Close" to Auditing Churches Again
For some time now, the IRS has not been auditing churches. As I explained in more detail in this post, the IRS’ decision to “suspend” church audits stems from a 2009 federal court decision finding the IRS’ regulations on church audits to be unlawful. Since that decision, the IRS, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, has not been auditing any churches. It has said since 2009 that it is preparing new regulations that will enable it to begin auditing churches again, but we have not seen those regulations finalized.
However, at a recent tax conference, Treasury Attorney-Advisor Ruth Madrigal said that the IRS’ long-awaited rules on church audits are “close” to being finalized. So what does this mean for churches?
What this means is that once the IRS’ regulations on auditing churches are finalized, then it is logical to assume that the IRS will begin auditing churches again. Whether this means that the...