SUPREME COURT: Thou Must Pay Thy Taxes

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The word on high is that freedom of religion does not necessarily mean freedom from taxes. So learned the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries last week when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that states may require religious groups to pay sales tax on the merchandise they sell. The decision upholds previous rulings that forced the Swaggart organization to pay the State of California $183,000 in back taxes and interest on nearly $2 million worth of pamphlets, tapes, records and other items sold to residents between 1974 and 1981.

Lawyers for Swaggart's ministries, supported by religious groups ranging from Protestants to Hare Krishnas, argued that the tax conflicted with First Amendment rights. But the Justices saw it as a commercial issue, not a spiritual one. Wrote Justice Sandra Day O'Connor: "The tax is not a tax on the right to disseminate religious information, ideas, or beliefs per se; rather it is a tax on the privilege of making retail sales of tangible personal property."