Brunson, Between the Temple and the Tax Collector

A little bit of shameless self-promotion today: my second book, Between the Temple and the Tax Collector, is set to be released on February 25 [Amazon link][Bookshop link]. 

I'm really excited about this book; it looks at the interrelationship between taxation and the Mormon church (primarily the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but also a couple polygamous offshoots of the church). 

And why? A couple reasons. One is, the wall between church and state is (necessarily) porous. Religion exists within a state and, like it or not, has to interact with the state in at least certain circumstances. One of those is taxation. Religious individuals pay taxes (as I talk about in my first book). Churches also pay taxes, including, but not limited to, payroll taxes. And, of interest to readers of this blog, churches are generally exempt from taxes. But that exemption requires churches to meet the state-imposed standards for tax-exempt (and nonprofit) organizations. 

And why Mormonism in particular? For two reasons. One is, as a religion founded in 1830, it has grown up alongside modern taxation. The first national income tax was enacted in the UK in 1799. State taxes became more objective and policy-driven throughout the nineteenth century. And the US federal income tax emerged briefly during the Civil War, then again in the early 20th century.

And two, the Mormon church is uniquely positioned when it comes to taxes. It has been a taxpayer and tax-exempt. Its members have been taxpayers. But it also has been a sovereign tax-writer; the city of Nauvoo, IL, was a theocratic city in the early 1840s, and Utah Territory was a theocratic territory from the late 1840s until the early 1850s. Which meant that Mormon civil leaders had to wrestle with whether and how to enact civil taxes. Without expertise, they drew on their history as taxpayers, as well as their religious beliefs.

For nonprofit purposes, one chapter relates the Mormon church's struggle to exempt its first New York meetinghouse from property tax (which was more difficult than you might think!). Another goes over exemption questions in the US and the UK for temple property. And a third chapter relates how activists have used its tax exemption to push for change in Mormon church policies.

I tried to write the book so that it would be valuable for people who are unfamiliar with Mormonism, are unfamiliar with taxation, or are unfamiliar with both. (I also hope it's valuable for people very familiar with both!) Anyway, I'm very happy with how it turned out, and would love to hear thoughts from anybody who reads it!

Samuel D. Brunson