IRS Clears Churches to Endorse Candidates Without Losing Tax Status

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has formally acknowledged that houses of worship may endorse political candidates to their congregations without risking their tax-exempt status. 

The statement was made in a consent judgment filed in federal court this week, representing a significant shift in the interpretation of the decades-old Johnson Amendment. 

The case, brought by Sand Springs Church, First Baptist Church Waskom and national Christian organizations like Intercessors for America and National Religious Broadcasters, challenged restrictions on church speech during worship. 

The plaintiffs argued that the Johnson Amendment violates both their First and Fifth Amendment rights, as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. 

For 70 years, the Johnson Amendment has been interpreted as barring nonprofit organizations, including churches, from engaging in political activity, particularly endorsing or opposing candidates, Reuters reports. 

However, the IRS now says that when religious leaders speak to their congregations in good faith through regular channels—such as sermons or religious services—about candidates or elections from a faith-based perspective, it does not constitute political intervention under the law. 

“When a house of worship in good faith speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith, it neither ‘participate[s]’ nor ‘intervene[s]’ in a ‘political campaign,’ within the ordinary meaning of those words,” the agency wrote in its filing, per Just the News.

The decision marks the first time the IRS has formally stated this position, despite years of avoiding enforcement actions against churches for similar political speech. 

Previously, the agency largely refrained from punishing clergy who made political comments from the pulpit, often treating such speech as tolerated rather than explicitly protected. 

The consent judgment also emphasized that applying the Johnson Amendment to religious speech during services would conflict with the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause. 

“Interpreting the Johnson Amendment to reach such communications would create serious tension… [and] would treat religions that do not speak directly to matters of electoral politics more favorably than religions that do so,” the IRS stated.

The motion, jointly filed by both the IRS and the plaintiffs, compared such endorsements to “a family discussion concerning candidates,” suggesting that these private, faith-based communications are not intended as public campaign interventions, according to Reuters.

Some legal scholars have called the move significant, noting that the new interpretation effectively gives churches of all denominations the green light to support political candidates without fear of losing tax-exempt status. 

“It basically tells churches of all denominations and sects that you’re free to support candidates from the pulpit,” said Hitoshi Mayer, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, according to The Post Millennial.

However, the change is not without its critics. 

The National Council of Nonprofits expressed concern that the ruling could be exploited by political campaigns. 

“The move is not about religion or free speech, but about radically altering campaign finance laws,” said Diante Yentel, the organization’s president. 

He warned it may enable political operatives to funnel tax-deductible donations through churches. 

The plaintiffs’ filing asks the court to bar future administrations—including the Trump administration and any successors—from reversing this interpretation, locking the IRS’s current position into legal precedent. 

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