Editor’s note: placeholder article installed to demonstrate the Deep Dive template. Replace or delete before launch.
Exemption from taxation is not a neutral fact of nature. It is a policy choice, made by legislatures, on a stated theory: that the exempted institution returns something to the public worth more than the revenue foregone.
Exemption is a bargain. Bargains have terms, and terms can be audited.
Placeholder pull-quote
That framing turns a theological question into an accounting one, which is the only form in which it can be settled.
The stated theory
Placeholder. This column would carry the statutory language or legislative history establishing the exemption and its rationale.
The observed practice
Placeholder. This column would carry the filings, property records or compensation disclosures that show what the bargain produced.
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