Out of 51 U.S. jurisdictions, Florida ranks #10 overall for its friendliness towards faith-based nonprofit organizations, making it one of the best places to operate a faith-based nonprofit in the United States. Florida has several laws that facilitate the contributions of faith-based nonprofits, including an automatic exemption from state corporate income tax for religious organizations that have 501(c)(3) status, a statutory RFRA, and some protections for religious worship during a state of emergency. Florida, however, has some policies that are burdensome to faith-based nonprofits operating in the state, such as a broad Blaine Amendment and very limited exemptions from state sales tax on religious organizations’ sales.
The Florida Constitution follows in lockstep with the federal constitution’s protections, meeting but not exceeding the required minimum protections of the First Amendment (as currently interpreted by the US Supreme Court).
Florida has enacted a RFRA that protects the religious free exercise of all individuals and entities by requiring government burdens on religious exercise to satisfy strict scrutiny. Since the RFRA is a statute rather than a state constitutional provision, Florida does not receive the highest score for this factor.
Florida’s nondiscrimination laws generally restrict religious freedom for religious organizations that offer public programming and facilities but provide accommodations or exemptions for the vast majority of religious organizations.
Florida’s nondiscrimination laws related to employment provide exemptions that allow religious organizations to hire co-religionists or persons who subscribe to the tenets or beliefs of the organization’s religion.
Florida law provides that religious worship or activities can only be prohibited or restricted by an emergency order that: (a) applies equally to all “essential” secular entities in the jurisdiction, (b) serves a compelling governmental interest, and (c) is narrowly tailored.
The Florida Constitution contains a Blaine Amendment that broadly restricts faith-based organizations’ freedom to participate in public benefit programs on the same terms as similarly situated secular institutions. Current US Supreme Court precedent has rendered this language ineffective in many cases, but it could become effective in the future if Court precedent changes.
Florida nonprofit corporation law does not have any law deferring to religious beliefs and structures in governance matters and does not have any special provisions specific to the internal governance or operations of religious organizations.
Florida law permits a director, in the fulfillment of the director’s fiduciary duties, to rely on the opinion of individuals who can reasonably be assumed to have expertise on a certain matter but does not expressly allow a director to rely on guidance from religious figures within his or her faith tradition.
As a condition of maintaining authorization to fundraise in the state, Florida requires the submission of: (a) reviewed financials for organizations with annual contributions between $500,000 and $1,000,000, and (b) audited financials for organizations with annual contributions or more than $1,000,000.
Florida imposes a sales and use tax on religious organizations’ sales and only provides limited exemptions for certain types of religious organizations, such as churches.
Florida imposes a sales and use tax but a broad and comprehensive, entity-based tax exemption for 501(c)(3) religious organizations’ purchases is generally available upon application.
Florida imposes property tax and provides only fragmented property tax exemptions that include only a narrow subset of religious organizations or that apply only to a narrow category of religious and/or charitable property uses.
