Tax exemptions

Israel put proposed taxes on church-owned property in Jerusalem on hold after top Christian clerics in the city closed the venerated Church of the Holy Sepulchre to protest the planned levies.

As U.S. banks were tallying up the billions of dollars in extra profits they’ll reap from the sweeping tax cuts signed into law by President Donald Trump, they were quietly delivering unwelcome news to local governments: The interest rates on their loans were about to go up.

The Justice Department said Thursday it has entered into a settlement with Z Street, a nonprofit that educates the public about Israel and Middle East issues, after the group sued the Internal Revenue Service for holding up its application for tax-exempt status and subjecting it to extra scrutiny.

The Internal Revenue Service has revised the streamlined application form for groups that are applying for tax-exempt status.

The Justice Department is settling lawsuits with Tea Party and conservative groups that had sued the Internal Revenue Service over delays in granting them tax-exempt status, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the IRS should apologize to the groups.

The Internal Revenue Service is giving tax-exempt organizations in the parts of Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma more time to file their returns.

Republican leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee are objecting to a decision by the Department of Justice not to bring charges against the ex-director of the Exempt Organizations unit over accusations that she improperly prevented conservative organizations from getting tax-exempt status.

The Internal Revenue Service revoked an unidentified hospital’s tax exemption in February for failing to conduct a community health needs assessment, in a sign of possible trouble for other nonprofit health care organizations.

Retailers are hoping to entice back-to-school shoppers this summer.

The Internal Revenue Service has opened a probe into the tax-exempt status of a charity funded by pharmaceutical companies, threatening a lifeline the industry uses to help patients buy expensive drugs for cancer, multiple sclerosis and other diseases.