Ministers Challenge C-Street House’s Tax Exempt Status

A group of 13 ministers have urged the IRS to investigate whether a Washington D.C. townhouse used as a home-away-from-home for Christian lawmakers actually constitutes a church as its owners insist. The house, called the C-Street Center, has been associated with a number of scandal-ridden politicians, having been frequented by both South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and Nevada Senator John Ensign in the past.

According to the ministers bringing forth the IRS complaint, though the brick townhouse is used primarily as a residence, it is counted as a church by the federal government and, as such, operates under significantly different tax rules. The ministers are skeptical of the claim that the C-Street Center is actually a church and so have asked the IRS to revoke its status as such.

The complaint says that an organization whose chief activity is providing room and board to members of Congress is not a church. During an interview with NPR, the leader of the group, Pastor Eric Williams of the North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus Ohio asked “is it open to the public? Are there trained leaders who serve the church? C Street really has none of those marks that make it a church.”

This is not the first time the house has drawn scrutiny for tax reasons. It had previously paid no property taxes to the District of Columbia due to a special religious exemption. However, in August 2009, due to the fact that portions were being rented to private individuals for residential purposes, it lost part of this exemption (only 34 percent is now tax-exempt) and lost its ability to call itself as a church, at least for property tax purposes.