Opinion
No. 89-244
Submitted January 16, 1990 —
Decided April 11, 1990.
Taxation — Sales and use taxes — Exemptions — Criteria used in determining whether an organization is a "church" under R.C. 5739.02(B)(12).
APPEAL from the Board of Tax Appeals, No. 85-G-539.
The Way International ("The Way"), appellant, which has headquarters in New Knoxville, Ohio, centers its religious mission on the Bible. It patterns its organization after the early church of the first century, the members of which met in followers' homes. The Way communicates its beliefs principally through its classes and the books and tapes which it sells to its followers. Apparently, the Internal Revenue Service has exempted it under Section 501(c)(3), Title 26, U.S. Code.
Exhibit 4 contains The Way's objectives and beliefs:
"I We believe the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were verbally inspired by God and perfect in the original writing; that they are of supreme, absolute and final authority for faith, life and godliness.
"II We believe in one God, the creator of the heavens and earth; in Christ Jesus His son and our savior, whom God raised from the dead; and we believe in the working of the Holy Spirit.
"III We believe that the virgin Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit; that God was in Christ, and that Jesus Christ was true man.
"IV We believe that man was created in the image of God, spiritually, that he sinned and thereby brought upon himself immediate spiritual death, which is separation from God and also physical death which is the consequence of sin; and that all human beings are born with a sinful nature.
"V We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, as a representative and substitute for us; and that all who believe that God raised him from the dead are justified and made righteous, born again of the Spirit of God, receiving eternal life on the grounds of his eternal redemption; and thereby are sons of God.
"VI We believe in the resurrection of the crucified body of our Lord, his ascension into heaven and his seating at the right hand of God.
"VII We believe in the blessed hope of Christ's return, the personal return of our living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and our gathering together onto him.
"VIII We believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and the unjust.
"IX We believe in the receiving of the fullness of the holy spirit, the power from on high, plus the corresponding nine manifestations of the holy spirit, for all born again believers.
"X We believe it is available to receive all that God promises us in His Word according to our believing faith. We believe we are free in Christ Jesus to receive all that he accomplished for us by his substitution.
"XI We believe the early Church flourished rapidly because they operated within a Root, Trunk, Limb, Branch and Twig setup (descent and in order)."
The Way analogizes its organization to a tree. It calls its followers "leaves." Leaves meet in a follower's home, and The Way calls this group a "twig." The Way names an area with many twigs a "branch" and calls all the branches in a state a "limb." The Way names the combined state organizations a "trunk," and all the national trunks are connected to the "root." The root is The Way International Headquarters in New Knoxville.
The basic membership unit, the twig, meets at a twig member's home. The host customarily plays music produced by The Way. The followers listen to a Bible teaching, a Bible research lesson, and more music. They sing a hymn, say some prayers, and collect an offering. Someone announces upcoming events. Usually, the members sing more hymns and then enjoy refreshments. Finally, the members discuss the Bible reading or how they saw the result of God's word in that day's experiences.
During the audit period, The Way also conducted Sunday evening services at its Bible Research Center in New Knoxville. These services were similar to the twig meetings. Occasionally it taped these services for distribution to its followers.
After the audit period, The Way began to hold its Sunday services in a newly constructed building, the Victor Paul Wierwille Word over the World Auditorium, most of which the commissioner exempted from real estate taxes in 1986.
Furthermore, The Way's founder, Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille, prior to his death in 1985, taped a series of classes, the "Power for Abundant Living," which virtually all followers hear or view. These classes teach the foundational basis of The Way. The Way requests a donation for a member's attendance.
The Way ordains ministers, and the ministers conduct weddings, funerals, and "baby dedications," serve holy communion, and pray for the sick. The Way selects a board of trustees, corporate officers, and a cabinet. According to Exhibit 23, The Way's ten highest paid employees received between $9,390 and $14,100 in 1975 and between $10,925 and $15,350 in 1976. It paid Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille, its founder and president, $5,200 as a trustee. The Way did not pay the remaining two trustees for their services as trustees.
The Way trains ministers in a four-year leadership program called the Way Corps. Way Corps students study advanced Bible reading, Bible research, teaching, and fellowship techniques, often at one of The Way's training sites. Students also learn Orientalisms (Eastern manners and customs), Greek and/or Aramaic, and techniques for coordinating Power for Abundant Living classes. During at least one of the four years, they relocate elsewhere for practical experience.
The Way also employs Word Over the World ("W.O.W.") ambassadors to spread The Way's message throughout the world. These ambassadors obtain a job in the community to which The Way assigns them and tell people what Jesus Christ has done for them. W.O.W. ambassadors undertake one-year assignments.
The Way, in addition, stages a "Rock of Ages" festival annually. The Way followers from all over the world gather at this festival for a week of Bible teaching and fellowship. The Way also operated a college and several camps during the audit period.
According to its financial statements, The Way experienced increases in revenues from donations, Power for Abundant Living classes, and book and tape sales during the audit period. Of particular interest to this case are the profits that The Way appears to have made from book and tape sales, even though it claims to have attempted to recover only its costs in these sales. In any event, The Way collected sales tax on book and tape sales.
On April 2, 1982, the Tax Commissioner, appellee, assessed use tax against The Way on most of its purchases made during the audit period, 1974 through 1976. In response to The Way's petition for reassessment, the commissioner issued a decision on June 3, 1985, in which she seemingly found that The Way was operating a business. Apparently, she conceded in her order that The Way was a church.
On appeal, the Board of Tax Appeals ("BTA") did not address whether The Way operated a business. Relying on its earlier decision in a real estate tax exemption case concerning The Way, the BTA found that The Way was not a church and that its purchases were not eligible for exemption. The BTA affirmed the bulk of the commissioner's order, but reversed certain portions of the order regarding specific claims, including agricultural purchases, purchases of items for resale, purchases used in printing, and purchases used in manufacturing.
The cause is now before this court upon an appeal as of right.
Baker Hostetler, Edward J. Bernert, George H. Boerger, Christopher Swift, Kaufman Cumberland and James A. Scott, for appellant.
Anthony J. Celebrezze, Jr., attorney general, and David G. Lambert, for appellee.
During the audit period, R.C. 5739.02(B)(12) provided:
The commissioner issued a use tax assessment. However, R.C. 5741.02(C)(2) renders sales tax exemptions applicable to the use tax.
"The [sales] tax does not apply to the following:
"* * *
"(12) Sales of tangible personal property to churches and to organizations not for profit operated exclusively for charitable purposes in this state, no part of the net income of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual and no substantial part of the activities of which consists of carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation.
"* * *
"Nothing in this division shall be deemed to exempt sales to any organization for use in the operation or carrying on of a trade or business." 135 Ohio Laws, Part II, 1252, 1254.
First, The Way argues that it is a church and that its purchases are entitled to exception. Second, it maintains that the "trade or business" restriction of R.C. 5739.02(B)(12) does not apply to it because the clause applies only to charitable organizations and not to churches. Alternatively, it contends that it does not operate a trade or business. The commissioner argues that The Way is not a church, referring to several features of its operation which, she maintains, distinguish it from a church. Alternatively, the commissioner asserts that The Way, in selling books and tapes, is a business and that sales to it are taxable. We hold that The Way is a church, that its purchases for use in operating or carrying on a trade or business are taxable, and that, as to the purchases under review, it did not operate or carry on a trade or business.
I
We observe that "[t]he really religious beliefs are always common to a determined group which makes profession of adhering to them and to practicing rites connected with them * * *. In all history, we do not find a single religion without a Church." Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1915) 43-44, quoted in Malnak v. Yogi (C.A. 3, 1979), 592 F.2d 197, 209, fn. 44 (Adams, J., concurring in judgment). The First Amendment to the United States Constitution grants individuals the right to believe in religion, but R.C. 5739.02 (B)(12) exempts a church from paying sales tax on its purchases. A church, thus, in general terms, is an assemblage of individuals who express their adherence to a religion.
In Maumee Valley Broadcasting Assn. v. Porterfield (1972), 29 Ohio St.2d 95, 58 O.O. 2d 192, 279 N.E.2d 863, we exempted the purchases of a nonprofit religious corporation that had the essential attributes of a church, despite its operating a radio facility. We mentioned several facts about the association's operations that indicated that the association had the essential attributes of a church. The association "* * * conduct[ed] religious activities both on its premises and by use of its broadcasting facilities. It render[ed] basic religious services and programs to the general public. It serve[d] missions, engage[d] in child evangelism work, establishe[d] Bible clubs, serve[d] shut-in listeners, gather[ed] food and clothing for distribution through authorized agencies, cooperate[d] in various ways with recognized charitable and health organizations, provide[d] counselling services, and promote[d] educational programs for various bible and religious schools." Id. at 95-96, 58 O.O. 2d at 192, 279 N.E.2d at 864.
The association, moreover, was interdenominational and allowed the community to use its facilities for church services and related programs. Its full-time staff, including two ordained ministers, provided pastoral care, engaged in gospel preaching, conducted worship services, and participated generally in other routine church activities. It had been granted tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service and a real property tax exemption by the BTA. The association's lack of a profit motive also impressed us.
We eschewed dictionary definitions of "church" and, instead, cited the association's character as support for our holding that it was a church. We believed that this character "must be found in * * * [the association's] motives, its charter, its purposes, its methods, and its operation. * * *" Id. at 98, 58 O.O. 2d at 193, 279 N.E.2d at 865. We felt that the association had demonstrated that it exhibited the necessary attributes of a church and that the additional operation of a radio station, which implemented its religious objectives, did not change its underlying foundation.
Under the Maumee Valley Broadcasting Assn. criteria, The Way qualifies as a church. It has adherents. It adopts the Bible as the main source of its dogma, it propagates a comprehensive set of religious objectives and beliefs which attempt to answer its adherents' religious concerns, and it conducts services, both at its Bible Research Center and at twig meetings. It employs ministers who preside at sacramental ceremonies, operates schools to train ministers, and sends forth missionaries to spread its beliefs. Its character, found in its "motives, its charter, its purposes, its methods, and its operation[,]" is that of a church. It is, thus, eligible for the exemption.
II
We will not explore the statutory analysis advanced by The Way to support its argument that a "church" is not included within the phrase "any organization" as used in R.C. 5739.02(B)(12). That statute imposes a tax on sales to any organization for use in a trade or business. As the commissioner argues, the term "any organization" is inclusive. A church is an organization, and this provision applies.
Finally, as to whether The Way's sale of books and tapes is a business, thus rendering purchases for this operation taxable, we quote the definition of "business" contained in R.C. 5739.01(F):
"`Business' includes any activity engaged in by any person with the object of gain, benefit, or advantage, either direct or indirect."
In Akron Golf Charities, Inc. v. Limbach (1987), 34 Ohio St.3d 11, 516 N.E.2d 222, we held that an organization which operated golf tournaments, the proceeds from which it distributed to local charities, was not a business for the purposes of the sales or use tax. We cited Maumee Valley Broadcasting Assn. v. Porterfield, supra, and required the earlier mentioned review of the organization's motives, charter, purposes, methods, and operation. Id. at 13-14, 516 N.E.2d at 225. In Akron Golf Charities, we regarded the golf tournament as a means to a charitable end. Similarly, the operation of a radio station in Maumee Valley Broadcasting Assn. was a means to a charitable end. We emphasized that the corporation or its officers had no profit motive and that they did not operate the corporation for material gain. Akron Golf Charities, supra, at 14, 516 N.E.2d at 225.
Here, we hold that The Way advances its religion by selling these disputed materials. Despite receiving more for these items than it paid for them, The Way did not distribute any profit to its trustees, officers, or employees but, instead, paid them modest salaries. The Way accumulated these profits and expanded its operations, including building a new church facility. Moreover, The Way's prime source of funding came from voluntary contributions. The Way's motive is to advance its religion, and it employs the books and tapes in a functionally related way to accomplish this. Selling books and tapes to its followers is not a business but is a means to its religious ends.
Accordingly, we reverse the decision of the BTA and remand this cause for a decision consistent with this opinion.
Decision reversed and cause remanded.
MOYER, C.J., SWEENEY, HOLMES, DOUGLAS, WRIGHT and H. BROWN, JJ., concur.
RESNICK, J., concurs in judgment only.