Religious corporation

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A religious corporation is a type of religious non-profit organization, which has been incorporated under the law. Often these types of corporations are recognized under the law on a subnational level, for instance by a state or province government. The government agency responsible for regulating such corporations is usually the official holder of records, for instance, the Secretary of State. In the United States, religious corporations are formed like all other nonprofit corporations by filing articles of incorporation with the state. Religious corporation articles need to have the standard tax-exempt language the IRS requires. Religious corporations are permitted to designate a person to act in the capacity of corporation sole. This is a person who acts as the official holder of the title on the property, etc.

There are four different forms of religious corporations with regard to their laws and the way they function within government. The four classes are "the aggregate corporation, the trustee corporation, the modern form of the corporation sole, and the Roman Catholic Church".^[1]