Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act of 2026

Blake D. Moore

Republican · UT · Representative

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

• Ben Cline (R-VA-6)Original· 2026-07-16
• Burgess Owens (R-UT-4)Original· 2026-07-16
• Celeste Maloy (R-UT-2)Original· 2026-07-16
• Claudia Tenney (R-NY-24)Original· 2026-07-16
• Glenn Grothman (R-WI-6)Original· 2026-07-16
• Mike Kennedy (R-UT-3)Original· 2026-07-16
• Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-1)Original· 2026-07-16
• Lance Gooden (R-TX-5)· 2026-07-20
• Tracey Mann (R-KS-1)· 2026-07-20
• W. Gregory Steube (R-FL-17)· 2026-07-20
• Ken Calvert (R-CA-41)· 2026-07-23

Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 680.

2026-08-27

Source: Congress.gov

Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act of 2026 This bill provides that an organization’s religious beliefs or practices concerning marriage, sexuality, or gender identity may not be treated as inconsistent with public law or policy for purposes of determining whether the organization has a charitable purpose and, thus, is exempt from federal income tax. As background, charitable organizations generally must be organized and operated for one or more tax-exempt purposes (e.g., religious, charitable, scientific, or educational) to be exempt from federal income tax and receive tax-deductible contributions. The Internal Revenue Service’s position, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in Bob Jones University v. United States , is that an organization is not organized or operated for a tax-exempt purpose if the organization is against public policy or illegal. The bill provides that a religious belief or practice concerning marriage, sexuality or gender identity may not be treated as being inconsistent with public law or policy for purposes of determining if an organization is organized and operated for a tax-exempt purpose. Further, under the bill, a belief need not be compelled by or central to a system of religion to be a religious belief.

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 9722 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9722 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure fair treatment of certain charitable organizations. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 16, 2026 Mr. Moore of Utah (for himself, Mr. Cline, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Owens, Mr. Moran, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Kennedy of Utah, and Ms. Maloy) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure fair treatment of certain charitable organizations. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Treatment of Religious Organizations Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. DETERMINATION OF RELIGIOUS PURPOSE FOR PURPOSES OF TAX-EXEMPT STATUS. (a) In General.--Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: ``(s) Determination of Religious Purpose.--For purposes of this section-- ``(1) a religious belief or practice concerning marriage, sexuality, or gender identity shall not be treated as being inconsistent with law or public policy, and ``(2) a belief shall not fail to be treated as a religious belief merely because such belief is not compelled by or central to a system of religion.''. (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025. <all>

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