N A T I O N A L

(ALSO LOCAL FOR: D.C., LOS ANGELES, SEATTLE, TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG)

ATTN: ASSIGNMENT DESK

An official document recently discovered by the Public Research
Foundation (PRF) requires all executives, ministers, and staff of every
Scientology organization, including churches and missions, to enforce
the paying of taxes on parishoners.

      The document, a "Scientology Policy Directive" entitled "PERSONAL
INCOME TAXES," is written by an unnamed "Tax Compliance Officer" for the
Church of Scientology. In part, it says:

"(A) Scientologist who refuses to file a tax return, pay
required income taxes, or to comply with other tax laws...
will be ineligible for Church services until the matter is
rectified."

      But the document goes further, and seems to allow the long arm of
Scientology tax-enforcement to extend to people other than its
followers, when it says:

"ANYONE (emphasis added) promoting to other Scientologists
not to pay taxes or file returns or promoting any of the
various tax protestor schemes, will be subject to discipline
under the Scientology justice codes."

      To put teeth into the tax enforcement, the unnamed "Tax Compliance
Officer" who wrote the document went so far as to threaten non-compliers
with the loss of eternal salvation for not paying taxes. Ordering
parishoners to "file your tax returns and to pay your taxes," the
document concludes: "Who would want to risk his eternity for any amount
of money?"

      A highly-placed church official named Lyman Spurlock confirmed that
threat when he wrote to one parishoner who had challenged the
church/state marriage:

"Were I you I would weigh the price of...the IRS versus your
future for eternity. If you insist on your current course
you will not ever be eligible for training and processing
(Scientology church services) and that is very unfortunate
for you."

      And unfortunate it was: the parishoner that letter was addressed to
was later declared a "suppressive person" and was expelled from the
church--Scientology's equivalent to excommunication.

      Lyman Spurlock, the author of the letter, is a co-founder of
Scientology's most powerful organization, a little-known entity called
the "Church of Spiritual Technology" (CST). But it was recently revealed
by PRF (Press Release: "HIDDEN TIES BETWEEN IRS AND SCIENTOLOGY
REVEALED") that another co-founder of CST is former Assistant to the
Commissioner of IRS, Meade Emory. Serious questions are being raised by
many into what influence Emory might have had in the super-secret 1993
IRS tax exemption for CST and lesser Scientology entities. Emory is not,
himself, a Scientologist.

      Meade Emory was Assistant to IRS Commissioner Donald C. Alexander,
whose reign began during Nixon's catastrophic last term. Before that,
Emory was Legislation Counsel of the Joint Committee on Taxation of the
U.S. Congress.

      CST, the all-powerful Scientology corporation that Emory helped to
set up, operates almost invisibly behind the panoply of church
corporations, but exercises absolute final authority and control over
every copyright and trademark that has any connection with Scientology.
Without CST's blessing, none of the junior corporations could operate at
all. Their entire existence derives from the copyrights and trademarks,
which can be taken away from any of them at the sole discretion of CST.

      That means that CST is a principal party to the Scientology Policy
Directive "PERSONAL INCOME TAXES," and that the full force and weight of
CST's power over Scientology is also behind the tax enforcement on
parishoners.

      Said one tax-watcher, "This makes all Scientology organizations
'branch offices' of IRS, and every church leader and staff member an
agent of IRS--there to enforce the collection of taxes under the threat
of eternal damnation. Why else would a church have a Tax Compliance
Enforcement Officer?"

      One Scientologist who was expelled on the strength of the church's
Tax Directives said, "This is an outrage against our constitutional
rights and freedoms like no other since the American Revolution. Now we
know that Scientology has been under the control of a vicious government
agency. If the IRS can use a Scientologist's hope of salvation to extort
taxes, then they can use ANY church to hound and threaten. Who's next?
The Baptists? The Catholics? Church and state are one now. My church IS
the IRS."

      Others are asking why no one in any branch of government has done
anything to force open the sealed, secret tax-exemption agreement with
Scientology. On March 15, 1996, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, in
the case of TAX ANALYSTS v. INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE in the United
States District Court for the District of Columbia, case No.94-CV-00220
(TFH), did order the IRS to release certain documents regarding the
Scientology "closing agreement," but so far IRS has not even complied
with the court order. In that case, Tax Analysts exposed several
disturbing facts about the IRS/Scientology arrangement. Submissions to
the court revealed, among other things, that the IRS's Exempt
Organizations Technical Division had been "instructed not to review the
exemption applications filed by the Church of Scientology and its
affiliates for compliance with IRC 501(c)(3)." Who ordered that, and
whether Meade Emory had any influence on that decision, is unknown.

      Will this new revelation of church Tax Directives bring enough
public pressure to bear on the case that someone acts? That remains to
be seen. But it is clear that a rising tide of public outrage is
swelling over human rights abuses by both the IRS and Scientology.

      One internet newsgroup, alt.religion.scientology, has been running
as many as 500 messages a day, and some of the recent discussion has
been fueled by the revelations of Meade Emory's connection to the
church--particularly since Emory and most of the co-founders and
directors of CST are not, themselves, Scientologists, but are tax and
probate attorneys.