Tax Exemption

The Times seems bent on magnifying a hairline crack between teachers and Gov. Gray Davis into something the size of the Grand Canyon. I'm referring to your recent coverage on Davis' proposed state tax exemption for teachers. True, we respectfully differ with the governor on some specifics of his plan to elevate the teaching profession in California to the status it has so long deserved. But we commend Davis for adding $1.84 billion to his state budget in a form clearly intended for teacher compensation.

WASHINGTON - Advocacy groups spending millions of dollars to influence the 2012 election now face the prospect of having to reveal their secret donors, after a federal appellate court panel refused to block a lower-court order requiring the disclosure. In a 2-to-1 decision issued Monday evening, a U.S. Court of Appeals panel here declined to stay a ruling by a federal judge requiring tax-exempt organizations that run election-related television ads to disclose their donors. The panel's decision was a significant victory for campaign finance reform advocates who have been fighting against the deluge of money - much of it from undisclosed donors - that has flooded the political landscape in the wake of several Supreme Court decisions, including the 2010 Citizens United case.

Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) proposed Wednesday increasing the property tax exemption of senior citizens by $1,750 a year. The current exemption for all homeowners is $7,000. Strickland's bill would hike that amount to $8,750 for those 62 and older. That would save older homeowners at least $17.50 annually, or 1% of the $1,750 exempted from property taxes.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry continued his push to woo South Carolina veterans, proposing a five-year income tax exemption for wounded service members and assembling a team of well-known veterans to campaign on his behalf. Perry raised the tax holiday idea during a Tuesday morning appearance at a local Veterans of Foreign Wars post, just moments after he blasted President Obama for failing to hold a parade to commemorate the end of the Iraq war.  “I want to offer up for this country to consider a wounded-warrior tax exemption,” Perry said.

Lawndale officials are accepting applications for exemptions to the city's new utility tax. The 5.5% tax approved June 16 excluded senior citizens and low-income or disabled residents. But residents who qualify must apply for the exemption, said Thomas A. Devereux, director of community services for the city. Although there is no deadline for filing, the higher rates will begin to appear on residents' bills after Monday.

A recent Associated Press dispatch reported that Sen. Bob Dole has included in the proposed GOP tax plan a measure that would raise the income cap on tax-free funeral insurance policies. This would enable those on Medi-Cal to exempt from their assets more than the already overly generous amount now exempted. The provision would cost the U.S. Treasury about $3.5 million over seven years and would benefit only a few insurance firms. As a 35-year volunteer for the nonprofit funeral and memorial societies of the country, I know that the amounts allowed for funerals under the exemptions now existing and the Dole-proposed additions are far too much.

Commercial deep-sea fishermen and sportfishing operators appear poised to reel in a one-year tax break valued at $1.46 million. The California Senate overwhelmingly passed a measure Wednesday night to grant commercial deep-sea and charter fishing operations a one-year exemption from the sales and use tax for diesel fuel to be used outside the state's territorial waters. There was no debate before the 29-4 vote. The bill, which was previously passed by the Assembly, was sent to Gov.

Using the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries as an example, the Internal Revenue Service served notice on tax-exempt organizations Friday to stay out of partisan politics. The Swaggart organization, based in Baton Rouge, La., accepted an IRS finding that it had violated the rules of its tax-exempt status by endorsing Pat Robertson for President in 1988. To prevent a recurrence, the ministry agreed to change its organizational structure and create a special compliance committee.

A county tax official has denied a request for a property tax exemption from operators of a Christian theme park, who said they deserved the break as a religious and educational institution. Park administrators plan to challenge the decision. The Holy Land Experience, which opened in February, was developed by Zion's Hope, a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian ministry.

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a long-running suit challenging the tax exemption of the Roman Catholic Church because of its anti-abortion activities. The lawsuit, filed nearly a decade ago by a series of abortion rights advocates, leaves the key issue undecided. The lower courts simply ruled that abortion rights advocates had suffered no actual injury, and, therefore, had no legal standing to raise the issue in court.

Yep, that was George Regas in that photo — the man in the purple ecclesiastical robe and handcuffs. The rector emeritus of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena chose to get busted this month outside the downtown federal building protesting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A few days earlier, scores of mostly conservative ministers across the country had deliberately defied the IRS ban on candidate endorsements by tax-exempt churches. Regas had tripped that wire inadvertently seven years ago, with a sermon that caught the IRS' ear and could have cost All Saints its tax exemption.

On Sunday, hundreds of preachers are expected to celebrate something called "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" by sermonizing about the moral qualifications of candidates for public office. The event is organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization. The alliance is offering legal representation to clergy whose remarks might run afoul of the prohibition of politicking by churches. It's a challenge the Internal Revenue Service should take seriously. Under the law, not only churches but other so-called 501(c)

Reporting from Sacramento California Treasurer Bill Lockyer on Tuesday will ask a state panel that hands out sales tax exemptions to renewable energy manufacturers to suspend the program in the wake of the Solyndra scandal. Lockyer, who heads the panel, said he will ask fellow members of the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority at a meeting to not approve any new applications for tax exemptions. The program is aimed at encouraging the purchase of equipment used to make solar panels and other energy-saving projects.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing more than $400 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by the city of Vernon in 2009, marking the third major investigation of the troubled city in the past year. The IRS notified the city this month that it had obtained information that "causes a concern that the debt issuance may fail one or more provisions" of the Internal Revenue Code, according to a document released by the city. The IRS declined to comment, and city officials said they haven't been briefed on the probe's specifics.

California Gov. Jerry Brown's revised budget proposal eases up a bit on business and offers some incentives. The governor, who wants lawmakers to ask voters to extend a series of taxes that would generate $10.8 billion, changed his mind about eliminating a program that gave employers tax credits for creating jobs in designated enterprise zones. He also is offering manufacturers a sales tax exemption on purchases of new equipment and is beefing up a historically under-utilized tax credit for small business owners, according to the revised budget plan released Monday.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has approved a special tax break for Twitter Inc., a move that the city hopes will keep the social media company and other high-tech firms from relocating. In an 8-to-3 vote, the supervisors approved an ordinance to give Twitter and others an exemption from a 1.5% city payroll tax for the next six years, as long as those businesses are located in the city's Central Market Street and Tenderloin areas, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Edwin M. Lee, San Francisco's mayor, applauded the move and said in a statement that it could lead to a rejuvenation of parts of the city that had struggled to attract businesses.

The Calabasas City Council will vote tonight on whether to do away with an old ordinance that exempts federal and state officials from paying a 12% hotel bed tax when they come to the city on business. Mayor Karyn Foley said she supports the idea of doing away with the exemption. "I don't think it's fair," she said. "We would like to get as many tax dollars as we can."

A reorganization plan approved by a federal bankruptcy judge Tuesday will allow PTL to remain tax-exempt and provide for its "resurrection," the television ministry's trustee said. The plan was modified Tuesday to give contributors more power and to give the Internal Revenue Service authority to fine-tune PTL's reorganization so it remains tax-exempt. Ministry officials said PTL's survival is dependent on donations and its nonprofit status.

This New York City suburb has seen its share of famous residents ? Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Jessica Parker among them. But it is the one who has never been seen who commands the most attention: Moammar Kadafi, Libyan leader and lord of a multimillion-dollar mansion that flies Libya's flag and sits next door to one very peeved Orthodox Jewish rabbi. Rarely has the stone-walled structure, with expansive grounds, pond and swimming pool, been the placid retreat the Libyan government envisioned when it paid $1 million for it in 1982, six years before Libyan agents blew up Pan Am Flight 103. The estate, called Thunder Rock, has been a flash point for years for local protests, most recently in 2009 when Kadafi lost a battle to erect his traveling Bedouin tent on the lawn during a U.S. visit.

A senior Democratic senator asked the IRS Wednesday to investigate third-party groups he says are manipulating tax-exempt status for political gain. Since the Supreme Court's ruling on Citizens United vs. the FEC, political spending by such outside groups has exploded. Democrats have long said that because such spending has favored Republican candidates, the party's advantage in fundraising over Republican counterparts has been neutralized. Wednesday's move by Max Baucus (D-Mont.