IRS Recognizes 'Pussy Church of Modern Witchcraft' for Lesbian Feminists as Church for Tax Purposes
The IRS has reportedly recognized the Pussy Church of Modern Witchcraft as a legitimate church.
The Maryland-based group is dedicated exclusively to lesbian feminists.
Peter Reilly, a CPA for over 30 years focusing on taxation, first reported the new designation in a blog post for Forbes.
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"The IRS recognized it as a 501(c)(3) organization and went the extra step of recognizing PCMW as a church, the most enviable of all tax statuses exempt not only from income tax but also from the transparency that filing Form 990 creates," Reilly wrote.
"A church does not have to apply for exempt status, but it is a prudent step particularly for an innovative organization like PCMW. My source indicated that the approval process was reasonably quick and there was no push-back from the IRS," he added.
The Christian Post reached out to the IRS for confirmation of the designation Wednesday but officials noted that they are prevented by law from discussing individual cases.
A determination letter on the church, publicly available on the IRS' website dated May 2017, notes that the IRS initially recognized the Pussy Church of Modern Witchcraft as a private foundation that was required to file Form 990-PF disclosure forms or risk losing their tax exempt status if they failed to file for three consecutive years.
"Some organizations that identify themselves as churches may appear on the Automatic Revocation of Exemption List (Auto-Revocation List) because IRS records do not identify them as churches, but rather as some other type of organization that has an annual filing requirement," explains an IRS advisory.
Since last May however, the Pussy Church of Modern Witchcraft appears to have legally maneuvered their way out of that classification but it is unclear when exactly this happened.
The church did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to information on the IRS' website, the church would have had to meet a combination of characteristics together with other facts and circumstances, to be considered a church for federal tax purposes. Some of these characteristics include: a distinct legal existence, recognized creed and form of worship, definite and distinct ecclesiastical government, formal code of doctrine and discipline and distinct religious history.
On their website, the Pussy Church of Modern Witchcraft glorifies biological womanhood and lesbianism.
"We come together to form a congregation of adherents to our female born, lesbian-feminist-based religious beliefs and traditions. We intend to serve our adherents through worship, service, and sistership with our congregants. We intend to accomplish the growth and continued strengthening of our congregation. The beneficiaries of our accomplishments are the adherents to our religious beliefs – Women and Girls. We will achieve our purpose through regular worship and service with our congregants and with other Women and Girls who may wish to become congregants," the church explained.
They also note that the church focuses on women because of global oppression from men.
"Women are oppressed globally on the basis of our biological sex. Gender is a mechanism of women's oppression globally. At Pussy Church, we serve Women and Girls and our emotional and spiritual needs. We cannot serve these needs in the presence of men, as men as a class are the cause of the harm that women experience globally. All groups have the right to associate freely as they see fit. As a religious organization, Pussy Church is also protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution permitting free exercise of religion as well as the Maryland Declaration of Rights, which provides that all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty," they said.
Pussy Church has been criticized by pro-LGBT groups for only allowing biological females and not males who identify as female. For an example, see this article at LGBTQ Nation.
On Tuesday, the church released a recording of a voice message left by a critic slamming them for making a mockery of religion and vowing to expose their hypocrisy.
"I just heard about your being granted a protection under the U.S. Constitution and I think this is the most repugnant, vile, offensive thing I have ever heard, period," Canepa said. "This was not what this law was intended to do and I think you're abusing it and making a mockery of all religion and I think you all should burn in hell ... I think you're disgusting and I'm going to start a movement to put you in the spotlight and expose your hypocrisy. Burn in hell Pussy!"
