How to start a church in 2026

A church is tax-exempt without applying — the IRS says so in its own words. The notice requirement every other charity faces "shall not apply to— (A) churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches" (26 U.S.C. §508(c)(1)(A)); "Churches that meet the requirements of IRC Section 501(c)(3) are automatically considered tax exempt and are not required to apply for and obtain recognition of tax-exempt status from the IRS" (IRS Publication 1828, Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations). Churches file no annual Form 990 either (26 U.S.C. §6033(a)(3)(A)(i)). What the IRS looks for is a combination of fourteen characteristics — "distinct legal existence; recognized creed and form of worship; definite and distinct ecclesiastical government; formal code of doctrine and discipline; distinct religious history; membership not associated with any other church or denomination; organization of ordained ministers; ordained ministers selected after completing prescribed courses of study; literature of its own; established places of worship; regular congregations; regular religious services; Sunday schools for the religious instruction of the young; and schools for the preparation of its ministers" — and "The IRS generally uses a combination of these characteristics, together with other facts and circumstances, to determine whether an organization is considered a church for federal tax purposes"; "The IRS makes no attempt to evaluate the content of whatever doctrine a particular organization claims is religious, provided the particular beliefs of the organization are truly and sincerely held" (IRS, churches defined, June 2026). Courts "have placed special emphasis on four of the IRS's 14 criteria" — a real congregation served by an organized ministry, meeting regularly (Congressional Research Service, 2025). No church needs all fourteen; a page-1 checklist that calls them "attributes" to tick is wrong about the test. A religious organization that is not a church — an evangelistic association, a Bible study — is different: it "generally must apply to the IRS for tax-exempt status unless their gross receipts do not normally exceed $5,000 annually" (Publication 1828), and the same rules apply to a mosque, a synagogue or a temple.

The letter is optional, and the short form is closed to churches. "Although there is no requirement to do so, many churches seek recognition of tax-exempt status from the IRS because this recognition assures church leaders, members and contributors that the church is recognized as exempt" (Publication 1828). The short form's own instructions: "If you are seeking recognition as a church, school, or hospital, you are not eligible to use Form 1023-EZ and should instead submit Form 1023 if you wish to obtain a determination letter from the IRS. However, churches (including synagogues, temples, and mosques) … may be considered tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) even if they do not file Form 1023" (IRS, Form 1023-EZ instructions). The user fee for Form 1023 is $600; the short form's $275 is not available to a church (Revenue Procedure 2026-5, Appendix A). The EIN is free — "You never have to pay a fee for an EIN" (IRS) — and a church needs one to open a bank account. A paid "start a church" service sells nothing you cannot do for the statute's fee and the IRS's forms.

Incorporating, by state, for the fee the statute prints. Texas: a nonprofit certificate of formation is $25 (Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code §4.153); "Religious groups do not need a federal tax exemption to qualify for Texas state tax exemptions", which require "an organized, established group of people regularly meeting at a designated location to hold religious worship services" — "evangelistic groups, Bible study groups, prayer groups and revivals" do not qualify; the exempt church "must collect tax on most of their sales of taxable items" (Texas Comptroller, religious organizations), on Form AP-209 (Texas Comptroller, Form AP-209); property "used primarily as a place of regular religious worship" is exempt (Tex. Tax Code §11.20); and Texas has no general charity registration. Florida: "Articles of incorporation: $35" and "Designation of and acceptance by registered agent: $35", with a $61.25 annual report (Fla. Stat. §617.0122); sales and leases "directly to religious institutions when used in carrying on their customary nonprofit religious activities" are exempt, where religious institutions "means churches, synagogues, and established physical places for worship at which nonprofit religious services and activities are regularly conducted" (Fla. Stat. §212.08), claimed on Form DR-5 (Florida Department of Revenue, Form DR-5); property is used for a religious purpose once "the institution has taken affirmative steps to prepare the property for use as a house of public worship" (Fla. Stat. §196.196); and the solicitation act does "not apply to bona fide religious institutions" (Fla. Stat. §496.403). New York: a church incorporates under the Religious Corporations Law, filing its certificate "in the office of the clerk of said county" (N.Y. Religious Corporations Law §3) for "seventy-five dollars" (N.Y. Not-for-Profit Corporation Law §104-A); property "organized or conducted exclusively for religious … purposes" and used for them is exempt (N.Y. Real Property Tax Law §420-a); the exempt organization certificate comes on Form ST-119.2 (New York Tax Department, ST-119.2-I); and the charities article does not apply to "corporations organized under the religious corporations law" (N.Y. Executive Law §172-a). California is the inversion: "The fee for filing Articles of Incorporation of a Nonprofit Religious Corporation is $30.00" (California Secretary of State, Form ARTS-RE) plus a $20 statement of information within 90 days (California Secretary of State, forms); the state income-tax exemption is applied for, not automatic — "Your organization must apply to get tax-exempt status from us" (Franchise Tax Board); the church exemption from property tax is claimed on the Board's affidavit, for leased space too (California Board of Equalization, church exemption); and "there is no blanket sales or use tax exemption available for nonprofit religious organizations or churches, even when the organizations are exempt from income tax" (CDTFA Publication 18). None of Texas, Florida, New York or California licenses anyone to preach; the one place a state looks at ordination is the marriage statute — Texas recognizes "a licensed or ordained Christian minister or priest; (2) a Jewish rabbi; (3) a person who is an officer of a religious organization and who is authorized by the organization to conduct a marriage ceremony" (Tex. Fam. Code §2.202), Florida "All regularly ordained ministers of the gospel or elders in communion with some church, or other ordained clergy" (Fla. Stat. §741.07), New York "A clergyman or minister of any religion" (N.Y. Domestic Relations Law §11), California "a priest, minister, rabbi, or authorized person of any religious denomination who is 18 years of age or older" (Cal. Fam. Code §400). Check your own state's rules.

The room, and the law that protects the gathering. A school cafeteria has a posted rate: Richardson ISD rents one to a nonprofit at "$26 per hour with a 2-hour minimum", with maintenance support at $30 an hour where the district requires it (Richardson ISD, facility leasing fee schedule, June 11, 2026); Austin ISD lists a high-school cafeteria at "$225 per hour" with a "50% discount" for a 501(c)(3) (Austin ISD, facility use fees). A converted storefront needs an assembly occupancy — "Local enforcing agencies are classifying most churches and houses of worship as Group A-3" (New Jersey Department of Community Affairs). A home can be a church: "established places of worship" is one characteristic of fourteen, and federal law bars a land-use rule "that imposes a substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person, including a religious assembly or institution, unless the government demonstrates that imposition of the burden … (A) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and (B) is the least restrictive means" (42 U.S.C. §2000cc; Justice Department, RLUIPA) — "a federal district court on July 11 ruled that RLUIPA required the City of Los Angeles to permit a small Jewish congregation to hold services in a home" (Justice Department, Religious Freedom in Focus, August 2015). Ask the planning department whether religious assembly is permitted or conditional in your zone before you sign.

The political line, money and the pastor's pay — the rules with teeth. "all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office … Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes" (IRS, political campaign intervention, June 2026) — "An initial tax is imposed on an organization at the rate of 10 percent of the political expenditures. Also, a tax at the rate of 2.5 percent of the expenditures is imposed against the organization managers" (Publication 1828). In July 2025 the IRS filed a proposed settlement in a Texas case saying that when a house of worship "in good faith speaks to its congregation, through its customary channels of communication on matters of faith in connection with religious services, concerning electoral politics viewed through the lens of religious faith" it neither participates nor intervenes — "a family discussion" (KPBS, July 8, 2025); the filing covers "communications internal to a house of worship, between the house of worship and its congregation, in connection with religious services", and "only one church ever has lost its tax exemption over politics" (Baptist Standard, July 8, 2025). The statute is unchanged and the IRS's own page still states the absolute prohibition; paid ads, mailers to the public and contributions to campaigns are not a family discussion. Donors need a letter: "A donor can't claim a tax deduction for any single contribution of $250 or more unless the donor obtains a contemporaneous, written acknowledgment of the contribution from the recipient church" (IRS Publication 1771; Publication 1828). A minister's housing allowance "must designate the housing allowance by official action taken in advance of the payment" and is excluded up to the least of what is spent, what is designated and the fair rental value (26 U.S.C. §107; Publication 1828) — upheld as constitutional: "We conclude § 107(2) is constitutional" (Gaylor v. Mnuchin, Seventh Circuit, March 15, 2019). Ministers pay self-employment tax on ministerial earnings — "The combined self-employment tax rate is 15.3%" (IRS Publication 517) — unless they qualify for the religious-objection exemption on Form 4361, for a minister "conscientiously opposed to, or because of my religious principles I am opposed to, the acceptance … of any public insurance" (IRS Form 4361); churches "are not liable for FUTA tax" but withhold for non-minister staff (Publication 1828). Unrelated business income of $1,000 or more goes on Form 990-T.

Insurance, checks and workers' compensation. Insureon's nonprofit customers — "such as churches and charitable organizations" — pay a median $42 a month for general liability, "$500 per year", $82 for a business owner's policy, $62 for workers' compensation and $67 for directors and officers cover (Insureon, nonprofit insurance costs); the school district's facility agreement wants the certificate, and insurers price a church on whether everyone with the children is checked — Checkr's basic report is $29.99 (Checkr, pricing). Workers' compensation is not universal: "in Texas, private employers can choose to carry workers' compensation insurance coverage, but it is not required in most cases" (Texas Department of Insurance); Florida requires it of "All private employments in which four or more employees are employed by the same employer" (Fla. Stat. §440.02); New York's compulsory list excepts "persons engaged in a teaching or nonmanual capacity in or for a religious, charitable or educational institution" — a church that pays only clergy is generally outside it, one that pays a custodian or a musician is not (N.Y. Workers' Compensation Law §3); California — "If a business employs one or more employees, then it must satisfy the requirement of the law" (California DIR).

The money to start. The church business plan page prices a portable church — a sound rig, a screen, a kids' setup, a launch mailing, a school cafeteria with a deposit — at $12,772 to $46,304 before the optional IRS letter and trailer; here is the leaner first year in a rented cafeteria from the posted rates and the vendors' own pages: the Texas filing ($25), a 4,000-lumen projector ($439.99 — ViewSonic), two vinyl banners at $6.99 each ($13.98 — BannerBuzz), five background checks ($149.95), a year of general liability at Insureon's "$500 per year" median ($500) and the cafeteria for three hours on 52 Sundays ($4,056) — $5,184.92, our arithmetic; $7,184.92 with a portable PA at a planning $2,000, because every music retailer refuses a scripted reader and no list price opens; $3,935.60 more for forty church chairs at $98.39 if the room has none (Staples, Flash Furniture church chair); $600 more if you file Form 1023. Giving costs nothing monthly: Tithe.ly's free plan is "2.9% + $0.30 per credit or debit card gift · 1% + $0.30 per ACH/bank transfer" (Tithe.ly, pricing), Subsplash's "2.99% + 30¢ for standard cards, 1% + 0¢ for ACH" (Subsplash, pricing); Planning Center's free tier covers ten check-ins a day (Planning Center, pricing) and Breeze is "$72 per month" flat (Breeze, pricing). A house church starts for the state filing alone. A denomination's network adds assessment and training — the Assemblies of God's network lists "REGISTRATION $599" for its launch training and "$22M+ Matching funds" since 2008 (Church Multiplication Network), ARC says it "has invested $80 million into church planting" (Association of Related Churches), Acts 29 "exists to plant churches worldwide by recruiting, assessing, training, coaching, and supporting church planters" (Acts 29) — no network prints a per-plant figure on a page that opens.

In the UK: a church is a charity in law and registers with the Charity Commission at £5,000 of income (GOV.UK, register your charity) — unless it is an excepted charity: "its income is £100,000 or less and it is in one of the following groups: churches and chapels belonging to some Christian denominations", an exception with an end date of March 31, 2031 (Charity Commission, excepted charities); an independent church outside the listed denominations registers like any charity, and is regulated as one — the inversion of the US rule, which exempts a church from the regulator rather than from registration. Gift Aid returns "25p every time an individual donates £1" (GOV.UK, Gift Aid); VAT registration is required at £90,000 of taxable turnover (GOV.UK); a building is certified as a place of worship under the 1855 Act before it can be registered for marriages (Places of Worship Registration Act 1855). In Australia: a church registers with the ACNC with the subtype of advancing religion (ACNC, start a charity) and, if it meets the criteria — not incorporated under the Corporations Act, not endorsed as a deductible gift recipient, under $100,000 in government grants — is a Basic Religious Charity with lighter reporting (ACNC, Basic Religious Charity); tax concessions follow ATO endorsement of a registered religious institution (ATO, religious institutions); "your religious institution must register for GST if its GST turnover is $150,000 or more" (ATO, August 2026); in New South Wales a religious body that is a recognized denomination needs no fundraising authority, and a new independent church does (NSW Government, authority to fundraise). Check your own regulator's rules.