## Facts

- California imposed a generally applicable 6% sales tax on in-state retail sales of tangible personal property and a complementary 6% use tax on out-of-state purchases used in California.
- Jimmy Swaggart Ministries, a religious organization, sold religious books, tapes, records, and similar items at evangelistic crusades in California and by mail order to California residents.
- After an audit, the California Board of Equalization required the ministry to register as a seller and to report and pay sales and use taxes on those transactions.
- The ministry paid the assessment and sought redetermination and a refund, arguing that taxing sales of religious materials violated the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses.
- The Board denied relief; state courts entered and affirmed judgment for the Board; the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case on appeal.

## Issues

1. Whether imposing generally applicable sales and use taxes on a religious organization’s sales of religious materials imposes a constitutionally significant burden on free exercise requiring an exemption.
2. Whether the taxes and related administrative requirements (registration, recordkeeping, returns, audits) create excessive entanglement with religion in violation of the Establishment Clause.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court unanimously affirmed.
- The Court held that California’s sales and use taxes, as applied to the ministry’s sales of religious materials, did not violate the Free Exercise Clause because they imposed no constitutionally significant burden on religious practice.
- The Court held that the tax scheme did not violate the Establishment Clause because routine tax administration did not create excessive entanglement and did not require inquiry into religious content or motivation.

## Legal Principles

- Neutral, generally applicable taxes may be applied to religious organizations engaged in retail sales without a Free Exercise exemption when the burden is incidental and economic rather than a restraint on religious practice.
- Flat license taxes that operate as a precondition to evangelistic activity are distinct from percentage-based sales and use taxes collected on transactions after sales occur.
- Seller registration and routine compliance obligations do not constitute an unconstitutional prior restraint when no fee is charged and tax liability does not depend on preregistration.
- A tax regime does not create excessive entanglement when it is content-neutral and does not require government evaluation of religious doctrine, content, or motivation.

## Conclusion

The Court upheld California’s application of generally applicable sales and use taxes to a religious ministry’s sales of religious materials, finding no unconstitutional burden on free exercise and no excessive entanglement under the Establishment Clause.


Jimmy Swaggart Ministries v. Bd. of Equalization of Cal., 493 U.S. 378 (1990)