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The Weekly is a rundown of news by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission highlighting the week’s top news stories from the public square and providing commentary on the big issues of our day.

New Tax Change Requires Churches to Pay Federal Income Tax

Because of a recent change in the tax code, some nonprofits—including churches—may be required to start paying federal income tax.

Last December Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which contains a provision that requires tax-exempt organizations to file federal income tax returns and pay unrelated business income tax (UBIT) on the cost of parking provided to employees. The tax is required even if the organizations do not actually conduct any unrelated business activities.

The newly added Section 512(a)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code states,

Unrelated business taxable income of an organization shall be increased by any amount for which a deduction is not allowable under this chapter by reason of section 274 and which is paid or incurred by such organization for any qualified transportation fringe, any parking facility used in connection with qualified parking, or any on-premises athletic. . . The [Treasury] Secretary shall issue such regulations or other guidance as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this paragraph, including regulations or other guidance providing for the appropriate allocation of depreciation and other costs with respect to facilities used for parking or for on-premises athletic facilities.

According to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), tax practitioners who have evaluated Section 512(a)(7) believe the result of this new provision is that tax-exempt organizations that provide parking to their employees will be subject to unrelated business income tax on the cost of the parking provided. A nonprofit organization that simply allows its employees to park in a parking lot or garage that is part of the organization’s facilities will be subject to a tax on the cost of the parking provided, notes ECFA.

Because of this new tax, many churches, charities, and Christian schools will be required for the first time ever to file federal Form 990-T every year regardless of whether they actually engage in any unrelated business activity. In addition to filing federal income tax returns, many nonprofit employers affected by the new law will also be required to file state income tax returns and possibly pay a state income tax.
Politico reports that at least one Republican lawmaker is now proposing to rescind the tax, though House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady—a key architect of the new tax law—is defending the provision, saying it will simplify the code when it comes to how workers are compensated.

But some church and nonprofit leaders disagree with the policy. They say providing parking to employees does not constitute generating income from an unrelated commercial activity.

“There’s going to be huge headaches,” Galen Carey, vice president of government relations at the National Association of Evangelicals, told Politico. “The cost of compliance, especially for churches that have small staffs or maybe volunteer accountants and bookkeepers—we don’t need this kind of hassle.”

The EFCA is circulating a petition advocating for the repeal of this new provision either by legislation or by an administrative action of the Treasury Department. To date, the petition has received over 2,000 signatures.

This week on ERLC podcasts: Daniel Darling talks to Alastair Roberts and Andrew Wilson about salvation and restoration. On the Capitol Conversations podcast, Bruce Ashford joins Matt Hawkins to discuss his new book, Letters to an American Christian. On the Countermoves podcast, Andrew Walker interviews Catherine Parks and Palmer Williams on Christian womanhood and the local church in light of the cultural conversation around women’s empowerment and the #MeToo Movement. And on the ERLC podcast, Jason Cook moderated a panel of those involved on the ground of the Civil Rights Movement including John Perkins, Melvin Charles Smith, James Netters, and Beverly Robertson

Other Issue

American Culture

HHS says hundreds more migrant kids may have been separated than earlier count
Politico

The Trump administration may have separated hundreds more migrant children from their parents than previously estimated, HHS Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Thursday. "Somewhere less than 3,000 is the maximum," Azar said, with about 100 under age 5. "We are erring on the side of inclusion until we can rule any connection out."

For the first time, U.S. resettles fewer refugees than the rest of the world
Pew Research Center

The U.S. has taken in 3 million of the more than 4 million refugees resettled worldwide since 1980. But in 2017, the U.S. resettled 33,000 refugees, the country's lowest total since the years following 9/11.

Bioethics

Iowa court blocks 72-hour waiting period for abortion
ABC News

Iowa Supreme Court blocks law requiring 72-hour waiting period for women seeking abortion, says it's an unconstitutional burden on women

Evangelical leaders downplay potential Roe v. Wade reversal
ABC News

Religious right downplays excitement on Roe v Wade reversal as Supreme Court conservative shift looms

Health-care worker arrested for allegedly murdering 8 babies in neonatal care
The Week

U.K. police have arrested a health-care worker suspected of killing eight babies and attempting to murder six others. About a year ago, detectives began looking into a hospital in Northern England that had an unnaturally high number of infant deaths. On Tuesday, they arrested a woman in connection with the investigation, The Guardian reports.

Supreme Court Issued Clean-Up Orders In Other Pregnancy Clinic and Travel Ban Cases
Religion Clause

In light of Tuesday's Supreme Court decisions in the travel ban and the pro-life pregnancy center cases, yesterday the Supreme Court issued clean-up orders, remanding for consideration in light of those decisions several similar cases in which petitions for review were pending.

Christianity and Culture

ERLC: Church's internal discourse needs protection
Baptist Press

An effort by Texas abortion providers to obtain a church's internal communications would violate the First Amendment and a federal law protecting religious freedom if successful, according to the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

International Issues

Mideast Christians See Russia—not the US's Defender of Their Faith
Christianity Today

Perplexed by America on Syria, Russian evangelicals and Middle East Christians debate if Moscow really cares. War was swirling in Syria. Rebels were pressing. And Maan Bitar was the only hope for American help. "Because I am evangelical, everyone thinks I have channels of communication," said the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Mhardeh.

Religious Liberty

UN-related religious liberty committee led by ADF rep
Baptist Press

Days after the U.S. withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council of 47 nations, a U.S. attorney has been named head of a multifaith nongovernmental group advising the U.N. on religious freedoms globally.

Sexuality Issues

U.S. human trafficking report faults child detention
Politico

The State Department said children held in government facilities are at higher risk of psychological damage and should be separated from their families only as a "last resort." The finding, part of the agency's Trafficking in Persons Report released Thursday, came as President Donald Trump seeks to quiet public furor over a border policy that has led to more than 2,000 migrant children being separated.

Is Pornography Use Increasing Loneliness, Particularly for Young People?
Institute for Family Studies Blog

Quality relationships and close social connections are associated with decreased mortality risk for all causes. 1 Yet among teens, loneliness, isolation, despair, and depression appear to be increasing, 2 along with rates of teen suicide. 3 Concerns over these trends have led many to ask, "What's changed?" Some factors seem to be tied to how technology has changed our world.

Sex traffickers routinely exploit prison system to recruit vulnerable women into sex work
The Week

Prisons in the U.S. are often used as recruiting grounds for sex traffickers, an investigation by The Guardian found Friday. Traffickers and pimps target incarcerated women by posting their bail, making the women indebted to them, or by financially supporting them through their time in prison, often creating an obligation of loyalty.