Johnson Amendment

The Johnson Amendment is an amendment to the Internal Revenue Code , the US federal tax law , introduced by the later US President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1954 .

Explanation

The regulation prevents under Section 501 (c) (3) of the Act for tax purposes as a non-profit organization recognized organizations and associations in engaging in politics, such as donations to campaign funds of certain politicians. In particular, this includes churches and church organizations. The limits of what is viewed here as political engagement are relatively broad, but measures of political education or, for example, measures to increase voter turnout are not included, provided they are politically neutral. The consequence of a violation of the regulation could be a loss of tax privileges.

The regulation also has an indirect effect: Since donations to such organizations are tax-deductible, it prevents, for example, a tax-privileged donation made to a church from being “passed on” to an election campaign fund.

The ruling was introduced by then Senator Johnson and on August 16, 1954 under Section 736 of the Internal Revenue Code. Even with the amendment of tax laws under Ronald Reagan in 1986, the scheme had inventory. In recent years, numerous Republican politicians and political groups have campaigned for the rule to be abolished, arguing that it violates the right to freedom of expression of churches and religious groups as set out in the First Amendment to the US Constitution .

Even Donald Trump spoke already in his campaign against the regulation from. On February 2, 2017, US President Trump stated in a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast that he wanted to repeal the Johnson Amendment. Trump said:

“ Jefferson asked, 'Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?' Among those freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs. That is why I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution — I will do that. "

"Jefferson asked, 'Can a nation's civil liberties be secure when it is lost conviction that they are a gift from God?' These freedoms include the right to worship God according to personal beliefs. So I will get rid of the Johnson Amendment and destroy it completely, ensuring that our believers can speak freely and without fear of retaliation - I will. "

Trump issued an executive order in May 2017, claiming that this "got rid of" the Johnson Amendment. However, the media and especially the evangelical opponents of the amendment agree that this is not the case. Trump's decree merely instructs the authorities not to impose tax penalties on religious persons or organizations who speak out on political issues from a religious perspective. However, such tax penalties were extremely rare before.

background

Senator Lyndon Johnson

Johnson's legislative initiative was not primarily directed against churches at the time, but in the context of Johnson's candidacy in the Texas Democratic Primaries on July 24, 1954, against two conservative, non-profit organizations. These were the Facts Forum founded by the Texan oil billionaire HL Hunt and the Committee for Constitutional Government (CCG) Frank Gannetts .

The Facts Forum produced anti-communist political radio and television programs and was believed to be affiliated with the movement of Senator Joseph McCarthy , who was a political opponent of Johnson. Johnson also suspected that the Facts Forum was supporting his opponent in the upcoming primaries. That opposing candidate was Dudley T. Dougherty, an eccentric oil millionaire with backing in Catholic circles.

The CCG was a right-wing conservative organization, originally directed against Roosevelt's New Deal policy, which pursued its purposes primarily by sending propaganda material to selected groups of people. One of Johnson's supporters received such a broadcast in which the CCG positioned itself for Johnson's opponent Dougherty. Having been made aware of this, Johnson decided to question the tax-privileged status of CCG and contacted the Internal Revenue Service , but they saw no legal basis to act. Johnson acted very quickly and managed to have a corresponding proposal accepted without debate and become law within a very short time.

The original rule prohibited the organizations identified in Section 501 (c) (3) only from making campaign contributions. It was not until 1969 that donations to organizations involved in election campaigns were also prohibited from being tax deductible.

literature

• Keith S. Blair: Praying for a Tax Break: Churches, Political Speech, and the Loss of Section 501 (c) (3) Tax Exempt Status. In: Denver University Law Review Vol. 86 (2008), pp. 405-437 ( PDF ).
• Nina J. Crimm, Laurence H. Winer: Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit: Provocative First Amendment Conflicts. Oxford University Press, 2011, ISBN 9780195388053 , p. 112 ff.
• Michael C. Hone: Aristotle and Lyndon Baines Johnson: Thirteen Ways of Looking at Blackbirds and Nonprofit Corporations - The American Bar Association's Revised Model Nonprofit Corporation Act. In: Case Western Reserve Law Review Vol. 39 (1988), pp. 751-763 ( PDF ).
• Patrick L. O'Daniel: More Honored in the Breach: A Historical Perspective of the Permeable IRS Prohibition on Campaigning by Churches. In: Boston College Law Review Vol. 42 No. 4 (2000), pp. 733-769 ( PDF ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "[...] no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation (except as otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office. " Internal Revenue Code 501 (c) (3)
2. ↑ Thrilling Christian conservative audience, Trump vows to lift ban on politicking, appoint antiabortion judges , article by Michelle Boorstein and Julie Zauzmer in the Washington Post of June 22, 2016
3. ^ "I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment." Trump said he'll 'totally destroy' the Johnson Amendment. What is it and why should people care? , Article by Julie Zauzmer in the Washington Post February 2, 2017.
4. ↑ The quotation given corresponds to the text of the Jefferson Memorial , Panel 3. The original quotation is: And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? From: Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII . See Quotations on the Jefferson Memorial .
5. ↑ Donald Trump vows to 'totally destroy' Johnson Amendment that stops churches funding political parties , online edition of The Independent , accessed February 3, 2017.
6. ^ [1] thestar.com: Daniel Dales Donald Trump fact check updates ", accessed on August 2, 2017
7. ↑ Senatorial Elections and Primaries, 1906–2012 ( Memento of the original dated February 4, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in the Texas Almanac. Johnson won the primaries with 883,264 votes to 354,188. 
8. ↑ Johnson received the response from the IRS on July 1, and his proposal became law on August 24.