Nail 'em!

Lavish televangelist lifestyles raise eyebrows at Senate Finance Committee

Excerpt:

The reportedly extravagant lifestyles of six television evangelists are raising some eyebrows at the Senate Finance Committee, which wants to know if the popular preachers are paying their fair share in taxes.

Sen. Charles Grassley, the committee's ranking Republican, has written letters to the evangelists, asking that they "disclose their assets, spending practices, compensation plans and business arrangements," according the Wall Street Journal's Suzanne Sataline. "The letters aren't formal subpoenas, and the six aren't required to reply."

Although religious organizations themselves are not required to pay federal taxes, any for-profit ventures a church may engage in are not similarly exempt.

"Mr. Grassley said his investigation was prompted by complaints from watchdog groups and others that the ministers live in multimillion-dollar homes, travel on private jets and engage in profit-making ventures from their ministries," reports the Journal, adding that the senator said he would withhold judgment until he got "the story from the ministries."

Comment: You know my view from the title of this post: "Nail these charlatans"

More from www.stltoday.com: Joyce Meyer Ministries is a target of GOP senator's probe

In his five-page letter, Grassley also asked Meyer for:

1. A "detailed accounting" of all her and her husband's expense-account items, including clothing and cosmetic surgery.
   
2. Information about any overseas bank accounts and deposits made outside the U.S. after international evangelical crusades.
   
3. The tax-exempt purpose of items purchased for her ministry's headquarters, such as a $23,000 marble-topped commode, a $30,000 conference table and an $11,219 French clock.
   
4. A detailed accounting of total monthly expenses for upkeep on the Meyers' personal residence, and any vacation homes, from 2004 to the present.
   
5. An explanation of any personal use of the ministries' tax-exempt assets, including "jets, employees, facilities," from 2004 to the present.
   

Senate Panel Probes 6 Top Televangelists

Comment: A common sense approach would be a requirement that all 501(c)(3)organizations (including churches) be required to file a 990 form to the IRS!