Jimmy Swaggart Ministry Admits Tax Law Violation

Jimmy Swaggart’s ministry in Baton Rouge, La., has acknowledged that the evangelist’s endorsement of Pat Robertson’s presidential candidacy in 1986 violated federal tax law.

In a public statement, the Swaggart ministry said the evangelist’s endorsement of the Robertson campaign at a September, 1986, church service and a subsequent endorsement of the candidacy in the ministry’s publication, The Evangelist, violated a provision of the Internal Revenue Code that bars tax-exempt churches and charitable organizations from engaging in political activity.

The violation could have led officials to revoke the tax-exempt status of both the ministry and Swaggart’s Family Worship Center, according to Mark Owens, director of the Internal Revenue Service’s exempt organizations division. But he said the agency decided not to levy a penalty because the ministry had agreed to comply with the rule in the future and to help publicize the violation.

Oliver S. Thomas, general counsel of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs in Washington, said the case marks the first time the IRS had targeted a church for political activity.

“We had seen the revocation of exemption of parachurch groups in the 1960s, but until now, enforcement had not been directed at churches,” Thomas said. “I have no doubt the service will strictly enforce this provision during this election year.”