The GOP is nailing its own coffin shut

Religious leaders are slamming the new GOP tax law after the measure required them to start paying a tax on some of the fringe benefits religious institutions offer to employees.

Politico reported Tuesday that the new tax law requires the groups to start paying a 21 percent tax on some of the benefits, including those for transportation, meals and potentially gym memberships.

  The Hill

They're sticking it to their religious base?  Bold move.

Though many organizations are still unaware of the tax, more than 600 churches and other groups have already signed a petition demanding it be repealed.

“There’s going to be huge headaches,” said Galen Carey, vice president of government relations at the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group of evangelical Christian organizations. “The cost of compliance, especially for churches that have small staffs or maybe volunteer accountants and bookkeepers — we don’t need this kind of hassle.”

The Jewish Federations of North America is looking at a new $75,000 tax bill this year because of the change.

  Politico

The cost of getting that US embassy in Jerusalem. The cost of doing business with Trump.

The debate comes as Republicans celebrate the six-month milestone of the law’s enactment. They’ve emphasized the benefits of its big cuts in taxes on businesses and individuals.

But to help defray the budgetary cost of those changes, Republicans simultaneously pared tax breaks for workers’ fringe benefits, which is projected to raise around $40 billion over the next decade.

Businesses are gonna love that.

The proposal got virtually no attention when the legislation was making its way through Congress late last year, and many groups are outraged to now learn of the requirement.

Deal with the devil.

Many nonprofits say they are confused over how exactly the tax is supposed to work.

Churches and other groups want to know how they are supposed to go about calculating the value of things like parking spaces for employees.

[...]

Universities want to know if the bus services they provide for faculty and students are taxable and how they figure out how much they owe. Orchestras want to know how to treat musicians who may perform in different locations.

[...]

Treasury is now working on regulations spelling out the details of how the tax will work, though the groups are supposed to have already been paying the tax. It took effect Jan. 1 and nonprofits are supposed to pay it quarterly.

[...]

A host of groups, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Goodwill Industries, the YMCA and the National Council of Nonprofits are demanding the tax at least be delayed, saying it is unfair to ask them to be paying a levy they don’t understand.

Maybe they need to stop voting Republican.  They don't even know how to run things when they get the reins.  Or maybe they just want to destroy the Republic.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.