PUBLISHED SUNDAY NOVEMBER 16, 1997
Copyright 1997 The Pensacola News Journal. All rights
reserved
3 top ministers fail
to pay state sales tax
By J.Lowe Davis
Assistant managing editor
PENSACOLA - Florida taxpayers are getting almost
no benefit from the millions of dollars of Brownsville Revival-related
merchandise.
Three of the revival's four top ministers are paying no
sales tax to the state on the products they sell. According to the Department
of Revenue, the ministries of Steve Hill, John Kilpatrick and Lindell Cooley
are in violation of the law.
Brownsville Assembly of God also pays no tax on its large
product line of videotapes, cassettes, T-shirts and other revival products
it sells.
State law exempts churches from having to pay sales tax
when they buy products and supplies and from having to collect, and send
to the state, county and city any taxes on the products they sell.
But the rules are different for the individual ministers'
own nonprofit corporations -- even though they are selling their merchandise
inside a church, according to a spokesman for the Department of Revenue.
Unless they meet the state's narrow definition of a church
-- holding regular worship services at a specific location -- nonprofits
need two numbers for the state:
Consumer Exemption Certificate: This exempts them
from paying tax when they buy things. But having this does not exempt them
from the duty to collect sales tax when they sell something. When they
sell, they are "dealers" and must have:
Sales Tax Registration: This is for collecting
sales tax on things they sell. They have to send in the tax monies to the
state.
Three of the nonprofit corporations handling revival merchandise
do not have dealer registrations. They are pastor John Kilpatrick's Feast
of Fire Ministries, evangelist Steve Hill's Together in the Harvest and
Lindell Cooley's Music Missions International, Inc.
Chuck Springston, public information spokesman for the
Department of Revenue, said none of the three are in the department's records,
either for a consumer exemption certificate or dealer sales tax registration.
"Unless they registered under a name other than the one
that is commonly known, they aren't registered," he said.
Kilpatrick will not disclose any details about his ministry's
sales.
He said in an interview with the News Journal three weeks
ago that the ministry was paying sales tax. Receipts for items purchased
from his ministry, Feast of Fire, do not show that sales tax was charged.
His attorney, Larry Morris said last week that he had
just learned, via an opinion from an accounting firm, Feast of Fire must
collect and pay sales tax. He said he was going to recommend to Kilpatrick
that he "self-report" to the state and pay the taxes right away.
Hill's ministry, Together in the Harvest, reported in
its most recent IRS return that its sales totaled $141,592.
Hill said in an interview with the News Journal three
weeks ago that the ministry was paying sales tax. Receipts for items purchased
from his ministry do not show that sales tax was charged.
Lindell Cooley's MMI Ministries has not been charging
tax on its products but has been setting aside 7 percent of its sales revenue
in anticipation that the taxes might be due, said general manager Larry
Day. He said that when the corporation formed, seven months ago, he asked
the state about the taxes and had been trying to get a clarification ever
since.
On Nov. 7, Day said, he received an opinion from an accountant
that MMI does have to charge tax.
Michael Brown's ICN Ministries has a dealer number, indicating
it is collecting sales tax, Springston said. To protect taxpayer confidentiality,
he said, he could not disclose how much sales tax ICN has paid.
Some items are never taxable, either when the corporation
buys them or sells them: Bibles, hymn books, prayer books, altar items,
sacramental items, ceremonial raiment and equipment.
A book of sermons, tapes of sermons and services and pastors'
autobiographies do not fall within the state's specific merchandise exemptions,
Springston said.