A billboard sponsored by the Freedom from Religion Foundation in Harrisburg, Pa. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons (RNS) — An atheist relief organization has sued the Internal Revenue Service, claiming its tax-exempt status was unfairly revoked. IRS officials say the group failed to file required annual information to the agency for three years. But the group’s leaders say churches do the same thing all the time and are never penalized. Nonbelief Relief, the charitable arm of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, filed a complaint Thursday (Oct. 11) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, after its tax-exempt status was automatically revoked. The Aug. 20 IRS revocation notice said the relief organization failed to file an “information return” — known as a Form 990 — for three consecutive years. In its complaint, the charity said it “objects to having to file Form 990 while churches and church-related organizations do not.” Freedom from Religion Foundation co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor speaks at the Religion News Association conference on Sept. 13, 2018, in Columbus, Ohio. RNS photo by Kit Doyle Annie Laurie Gaylor, president of the charity and FFRF co-president, said the suit is “part and parcel” of an ongoing […]
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