Evangelist arrested on tax evasion

blutoski

Penultimate Amazing
blutoski
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Link: Evangelist arrested on tax evasion

Excerpt:
U.S. Magistrate Judge Miles Davis handed down the indictment against Kent Hovind, who operated a creationist theme park Dinosaur Adventure Land, off Old Palafox Road.
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Blutoskitorial:
Perhaps his returns were too irreducibly complex to calculate and submit.
 
Eos of the Eons said:
Funny how he wants to be tax free like a church, but wants to try to tell people his park is about "science".


http://www.dinosauradventureland.com/
Science Center my arse
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Actually, I think it's his personal income tax that was the issue. My understanding from other readings is that he more or less believes that taxation is unconstitutional and refuses to pay on that grounds. He's lost previous appeals. This is the final straw for his case, I think.
 
:D Oh yeah, it was a $50.00 building permit that created problems for the theme park specifically.
 
Eos of the Eons said:
Funny how he wants to be tax free like a church, but wants to try to tell people his park is about "science".
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That distinction doesn't matter from a tax perspective. Nonprofit entities operated for scientific purposes are entitled to the same exemption as nonprofit entities operated for religious purposes; no favoritism there.
 
As I read the opening post I just happened to be listening to Birth of the Cool. I wonder if Judge Miles Davis bitched out Hovind the way the more famous Miles Davis used to bitch out his band?

Steven
 
ceo_esq said:
That distinction doesn't matter from a tax perspective. Nonprofit entities operated for scientific purposes are entitled to the same exemption as nonprofit entities operated for religious purposes; no favoritism there.
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Really? I thought churches were exempt because they are churches. There are religious exemptions. I work for a non-profit, and we pay taxes, and file a tax return. I don't know of any non-profit entities that "operate for science purposes" that don't have to pay taxes. Please enlighten me.
 
Eos of the Eons said:
Really? I thought churches were exempt because they are churches. There are religious exemptions. I work for a non-profit, and we pay taxes, and file a tax return. I don't know of any non-profit entities that "operate for science purposes" that don't have to pay taxes. Please enlighten me.
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I should say that I have no idea what the legal or tax status of Dinosaurland (or whatever it's called) is. But what I said earlier is true: under IRC 501(c)(3), a nonprofit organization is eligible for an income tax exemption if it is "organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster national or international amateur sports competition". I'm simplifying here, of course - there are some other requirements - but those are the "seven exempt purposes".

Benefiting from this exemption doesn't mean you don't file returns, of course.
 
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FYI, the label "non-profit" in relation to a business entity is perhaps misleading. It means merely that any profits made are not distributed to shareholders, but are ploughed back into the business...purportedly to further its stated aims.
 
I want to know more about this Old Palaeofox Road where the dinosaur park is (the article misspells it but I know what it must really be). Are there neanderskunks there too?
 
Meffy said:
I want to know more about this Old Palaeofox Road where the dinosaur park is (the article misspells it but I know what it must really be). Are there neanderskunks there too?
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Didn't he buy that old dinosaur theme park? The one that was built in the '60s? (featured in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure)
 
Dunno, haven't seen Mr. Reubens' movie or TV program. I have always wondered why a evangelist would want a dinosaur-themed tourist attraction though.

Probably doesn't have any neanderskunks. Exhibit makers usually run out of prehistoric critters before arriving at my forebears. Or fore-mephits rather.
 
Meffy said:
Dunno, haven't seen Mr. Reubens' movie or TV program. I have always wondered why a evangelist would want a dinosaur-themed tourist attraction though.
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He's retrofitted the dioramas to include people, consistent with the claim that the earth is only 6,000 years old, and that the fossilized remains of dinosaurs are antediluvian animals who died during the Genesis flood.

It's a Creation Science museum.
 
blutoski said:
He's retrofitted the dioramas to include people, consistent with the claim that the earth is only 6,000 years old, and that the fossilized remains of dinosaurs are antediluvian animals who died during the Genesis flood.

It's a Creation Science museum.
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I'll bet he shows episodes of The Flintstones too.

Steven
 
Now I'm confused too. I thought he was fined for evading paying his Texas. :-}
 
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