CREW: IRS: Regarding Illegal Living Word Christian Center Endorsements and Contributions

On October 17, 2006, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) complaint against the Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park, MN for violating IRS law by openly endorsing state Senator Michele Bachmann’s candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives. Churches, like Living Word Christian Center, are absolutely prohibited from intervening in elections for any public office. This prohibition is a condition of the very favorable tax benefits public charities receive under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. On February 8, 2007, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a second complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against the Living Word Christian Center (LWCC). CREW’s complaint alleges that the LWCC, organized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), has engaged in illegal financial transactions with LWCC’s senior pastor and founder, James "Mac" Hammond, in which Hammond has profited from the church’s activities. Hammond and his wife are two of the seven members of the LWCC’s board of trustees, making them “insiders” under federal tax law