CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA, Petitioner

                                       v.

                  COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

                               Docket No. 3352-78.

                             United States Tax Court

                            Filed September 24, 1984.

  Petitioner, a Church incorporated in the State of California, was granted tax-

 exempt status in 1957 under sec. 501(c)(3), I.R.C. 1954. In 1967 respondent

 sent petitioner a letter revoking its exemption following audit of petitioner's

 records which was in part sparked by litigation involving the tax-exempt status

 of an affiliated Church of Scientology. Subsequent to issuing the letter of

 revocation, respondent conducted several audits of petitioner's records for

 various tax years and also reviewed the tax status of several affiliated

 churches. Petitioner was also investigated by several intelligence groups which

 respondent specially formed during 1969 through 1975 to investigate taxpayers

 allegedly selected by essentially political criteria. During the period that

 petitioner's taxes were under administrative review, petitioner conspired to

 prevent the IRS from determining and collecting taxes due from petitioner and

 affiliated churches. Petitioner sold religious services, books, and artifacts

 according to a fixed fee schedule through its branch churches and franchises.

 Petitioner's profits from these sales were not less than $1,494,617.53 in

 1970, $881,131.18 in 1971, and $1,707,287.17 in 1972. Petitioner maintained

 large cash reserves in a sham corporation and in a bogus trust controlled by

 key church officials including petitioner's founder. HELD, petitioner was not

 the victim of selective enforcement of the tax laws since the notice of

 deficiency was based on valid regulatory considerations. HELD FURTHER, various

 other asserted constitutional rights of petitioner not violated. HELD FURTHER,

 petitioner was not operated exclusively for an exempt purpose under sec.

 501(c)(3), I.R.C. 1954, since petitioner had a substantial commercial purpose,

 since its net earnings benefited key Scientology officials, and since it had

 the illegal purpose of conspiring to impede the IRS from collecting taxes due

 from petitioner and affiliated churches and thus its activities, dictated at

 the highest level, violated well-defined public policy.

  *382 ROBERT H. HARRIS, CHRISTOPHER COBB, MICHAEL WELLS, and PETER YOUNG,

 specially recognized, for the petitioner.

  MARTIN D. COHEN, for the respondent.



  STERRETT, JUDGE:

  Petitioner, the Church of Scientology of California (California Church or

 Church), was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in the State of

 California in 1954. In 1957 respondent recognized petitioner as an organization

 described in section 501(c)(3) [FN1] exempt from Federal income taxes under

 section 501(a). In 1967 respondent revoked petitioner's tax-exempt status.

 Following an extensive audit of petitioner's records for the years 1971-1974,

 respondent, by notice of deficiency dated December 28, 1977, determined

 deficiencies in petitioner's Federal income taxes and additions to tax as

 follows:



                             Addition to tax

 Taxable year  Deficiency   under sec. 6651(a)



     1970      $581,245.29     $145,311.32

     1971        70,881.48       17,720.37

     1972       498,332.10      124,583.02



  *383 The controversy in this case is simply stated: Petitioner claims it is

 exempt from taxation and respondent claims it is not. Subsumed within this

 simple controversy, however, are numerous and complex subsidiary issues

 including several challenges to the constitutionality of section 501(c)(3). The

 questions presented for resolution in this case are:

  1) Is the notice of deficiency null and void because respondent never issued a

 final letter of revocation of exempt status?

  2) Is the notice of deficiency or the letter revoking petitioner's tax-exempt

 status based upon political animus or hostility to the religion of Scientology

 in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments?

  3) To the express conditions in section 501(c)(3) for exempting religious

 organizations from taxation violate the First Amendment because they tax

 religious income?

  4) Do the express conditions in section 501(c)(3) for exempting religious

 organizations from taxation violate the First Amendment because the Government

 has no compelling interest in taxing religious income?

  5) Are the express conditions in section 501(c)(3) for exempting religious

 organizations overbroad provisions because they restrict commercial activity in

 aid of religion which is affirmatively protected by the free exercise clause?

  6) Are the express and implied statutory conditions for exempting religious

 organizations from taxation unduly vague in violation of the First and Fifth

 Amendments?

  7) Does section 501(c)(3) violate the establishment clause of the First

 Amendment because its enforcement advances some religions and inhibits others?

  8) Does section 501(c)(3) violate the establishment clause because its

 enforcement results in excessive Government entanglement in church affairs?

  9) Does the First Amendment's protection for religious organizations relieve

 petitioner of the burden of proof in this case and require respondent to assume

 it?

  *384 10) Is the statutory scheme prohibiting some tax-exempt organizations

 but not others from using their net earning to benefit private interests

 arbitrary and capricious?

  11) Does the application of common law charitable trust doctrine to churches,

 requiring their conformity to fundamental public policy standards evidenced by

 criminal or civil statutes, violate the free exercise clause of the First

 Amendment because there are less restrictive ways of regulating church-

 sponsored misconduct?

  12) Does the retroactive application of public policy standards derived from

 the common law of charitable trusts to petitioner's operations deprive

 petitioner of due process of law in violation of the Fifth Amendment?

  13) May respondent, consistent with fairness, be heard to argue after the

 start of trial the new position that the United Kingdom Church of Scientology

 (United Kingdom Church) is a branch of petitioner?

  14) During the years 1970, 1971 and 1972 did petitioner's activities include a

 substantial commercial purpose?

  15) During the taxable years in issue, did any part of petitioner's net

 earnings inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual?

  16) During the taxable years in issue, did petitioner's activities violate

 common law standards of public policy applicable to charities and incorporated

 in section 501(c)(3)?

  17) If petitioner is not exempt from taxation, can the determinations in

 respondent's notice of deficiency be upheld?

  18) Is petitioner liable for additions to tax under section 6651(a) for

 willfully failing without reasonable cause to file corporate income tax

 returns (Forms 1120) in 1970, 1971 and 1972?

                                FINDINGS OF FACT

  Some of the facts have been stipulated. They represent a miniscule part of the

 record. In some instances, the stipulated facts were contradicted by the

 remainder of the record. We, therefore, decline to incorporate in toto the

 stipulations of fact in our findings. Instead we have made our own findings

 giving weight to the stipulations only where their trustworthiness was not

 discredited by the remainder of the record.

  *385 Petitioner, the Church of Scientology of California, was incorporated

 on February 18, 1954, as a non-profit corporation in the State of California.

 When the petition herein was filed, petitioner's principal place of business

 was located at 5930 Franklin Avenue, Los Angeles, California. Petitioner was

 one of many Churches of Scientology organized worldwide. During the tax years

 at issue, 1970-1972, it was considered the 'Mother Church' of all Churches of

 Scientology in the United States.

  The parties have stipulated that petitioner was organized exclusively for

 religious purposes and that petitioner has satisfied the organizational

 requirements found in section 1.501(c)(3)-1(b), Income Tax Regs. The Court

 adopts this stipulation and finds that petitioner was organized to propagate

 the faith of Scientology, a religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard, through such

 means as the indoctrination of the laity, the training and ordination of

 ministers, the creation of congregations and the provision of support to

 affiliates and similar organizations.

                                  THE RELIGION

  Scientology teaches that the individual is a spiritual being having a mind and

 a body. Part of the mind, called the 'reactive mind' is unconscious. It is

 filled with mental images that are frequently the source of irrational

 behavior. Through the administration of a Scientology process known as

 'auditing,' an individual, called a 'preclear,' is helped to erase his reactive

 mind and gain spiritual competence. A trained Scientologist known as an

 'auditor' administers the auditing. He is aided by an electronic device called

 an 'E-meter' which helps the auditor identify areas of spiritual difficulty for

 the preclear by measuring skin responses during a question and answer session.

  Scientology teaches that spiritual awareness is achieved in stages. The

 religion defines different levels of awareness and prescribes the requisite

 auditing to achieve each level. L. Ron Hubbard researched and developed the

 spiritual awareness levels and the courses to train auditors. During the

 docketed years L. Ron Hubbard continued this research. A chart entitled

 'Classification Gradation and Awareness Chart of Levels and Certificates'

 depicts levels of spiritual awareness *386 and corresponding auditor

 training requirements in effect in 1970.

  One of the tenets of Scientology is that anytime a person receives something,

 he must pay something back. This is called the doctrine of exchange.

 Petitioner's branch churches applied this doctrine by exacting a 'fixed

 donation' for training and auditing.

  Scientology is an international religion and during the docketed years there

 were numerous Churches of Scientology around the world. These Churches were

 organized along hierarchical lines according to the level of services (training

 and auditing) they were authorized to provide. Churches which delivered

 Scientology services at the lowest levels were called 'franchises' and later

 'missions.' Churches which delivered auditing (also referred to as 'processing

 ') through Grade IV and training through Level IV as depicted on the

 Classification Gradation and Awareness Chart were known as 'Class IV Orgs.'

 Saint Hill Organizations and Advanced Organizations offered intermediate and

 higher level services. A branch of petitioner known as 'Flag' offered the

 highest level training and auditing.

  Petitioner's branch churches were opened daily and nightly to provide auditing

 and training. Petitioner's ministers also officiated at weekly Sunday services

 and performed services such as marriages, baptism and funerals.

                               CORPORATE STRUCTURE

  The parties stipulated to seven divisions. They are:

  1) San Francisco Organization (SFO) 2) Los Angeles Organization (LAO) 3)

 American Saint Hill Organization (ASHO) 4) Advanced Organization of Los

 Angeles (AOLA) 5) Flag Operations Liaison Office (FOLO or FOLO WUS) (prior to

 June 6, 1972 known as United States Liaison Office (USLO)) 6) Flag 7) United

 States Guardian Office (USGO)

  In addition to these seven stipulated divisions, we find that Scientology

 Churches and organizations in the United Kingdom (hereinafter collectively

 referred to as the United Kingdom *387 Church) were part of the California

 Church. Furthermore, the Operation Transport Corporation, Ltd. (also known as

 Operation Transport Services, OTC or OTS), a noncharitable Panamanian

 corporation, had no true, independent existence apart from petitioner's Flag

 division.

                           A. THE STIPULATED DIVISIONS

  The San Francisco Organization (SFO) and the Los Angeles Organization (LAO)

 were both 'Class IV organizations.' As such they were authorized to conduct

 training through Class IV and auditing through Grade IV as depicted on the

 Classification Gradation and Awareness Chart. They were open 7 days a week for

 training and auditing and related activities. The American Saint Hill

 Organization (ASHO) located in Los Angeles, like SFO and LAO, provided auditing

 and training but at higher levels. ASHO also published and distributed

 Scientology books, prerecorded tapes, and E-meters throughout the United

 States. The staff at ASHO were mostly members of the Sea Organization, an elite

 order of Scientologists. The Advanced Organization of Los Angeles (AOLA)

 provided high levels of auditing and training to persons who had completed

 services at a Class IV organization. The staff at AOLA were mostly Sea

 Organization members and the parishioners came from all over the United States

 and Canada.

  The Flag Operations Liaison Office (FOLO), located in Los Angeles, was an

 administrative unit of the California Church. [FN2] It did not provide

 religious services except to the staff. FOLO relayed administrative advice

 emanating from Flag, the headquarters of the California Church, to other

 branches of the California Church and to other Scientology Churches. The staff

 at FOLO played a significant role in promoting the growth and development of

 Scientology by providing training to staff from other organizations, by

 supervising the implementation of new programs developed at Flag, and by

 providing administrative assistance to new organizations. FOLO also relayed

 funds from other branches of the California Church and from other churches to

 Flag. The staff at FOLO were members of the Sea *388 Organization. Other

 Scientology Churches in the United States and abroad had counterpart FOLO

 units.

  Flag was the highest division of the California Church. It provided spiritual

 leadership. It also acted as petitioner's administrative center. During the

 taxable years, the Flag division was headquartered aboard a ship, the Apollo,

 which cruised the Mediterraneen Sea and docked in various countries along its

 shores. L. Ron Hubbard, his wife, Mary Sue, and their family lived on the

 Apollo with other members of the ship's crew and staff. All staff and crew were

 Sea Organization members. Flag also had two outposts: The Tangier Reception

 Center (TRC) and the Mission European Agency (MEA). MEA served as a relay point

 for personnel, deliveries, and communications going to Flag, and TRC, among

 other things, housed the overload of students who came to Flag for training.

  Flag activities fell into three general areas, each conducted by a separate

 organization within Flag. The Flagship Organization was responsible for all

 nautical functions--sailing, maintenance and port relations. The Flag

 Administrative Organization provided religious and administrative training and

 auditing at the highest levels. The majority of the students who came to Flag

 for training were staff members sent from petitioner's other divisions or from

 other Churches of Scientology. Students lived aboard the ship or stayed at TRC.

 After completing their course work they generally returned to their local

 organizations.

  The Flagship Bureau was petitioner's management body. This management function

 was fulfilled in a variety of ways which are only briefly recounted here.

 First, petitioner's other divisions and other Churches sent reports on a

 regular basis to Flag. These reports supplied information, often in statistical

 form, about the organizations' operations. Flag staff, on the basis of their

 review of these reports, issued policy letters, directives and other kinds of

 administrative advice geared to improving local church operations. Second, Flag

 personnel researched and developed programs and techniques for improving the

 administration of local organizations. Finally, Flag sent teams of individuals

 specially trained in management techniques 'on mission' to help other units or

 churches which were experiencing difficulties.

  *389 L. Ron Hubbard officially resigned his position as executive head of

 the California and other Churches of Scientology in 1966. Despite his official

 resignation various charts of petitioner depicting management functions during

 the docketed years continued to place him in the top position. He also held the

 rank of Commodore, the highest rank in the Sea Organization, which was an elite

 fraternity of Scientologists. He kept control over the California Church policy

 by authoring numerous policy letters and by allowing others to go out in his

 behalf. He also wrote other types of policy directives including Flag Orders,

 L. Ron Hubbard Executive Directives, and Orders of the Day. He made important

 decisions affecting Church administration, transferring U.S. Pubs from the

 Denmark Church to ASHO and disbanding the Executive Council Worldwide which had

 overseen the day-to-day operations of the Church. He supervised the activities

 of the Franchise Office. Staff consulted with him before inagurating major

 plans and whenever an operation of the Church was foundering.

  L. Ron Hubbard's control over petitioner's financial affairs was particularly

 notable and was longstanding. In the years immediately preceding the taxable

 years, L. Ron Hubbard was a signatory on all Churches of Scientology bank

 accounts including petitioner's. His approval was required for all financial

 planning. He was the sole 'trustee' of a major Scientology fund into which

 petitioner made substantial payments. He decided to open Swiss bank accounts

 for petitioner and to put them in the name of OTC. He sent a Flag executive to

 AOLA to revamp its financial operations. He authorized the purchase of a ranch

 in Ensenada, Mexico and wrote a check for $80,000 on one of petitioner's Zurich

 accounts for its purchase. His control continued during the docketed years. He

 remained a signatory on petitioner's bank accounts including the OTC accounts.

 His approval was required for financial planning. He authorized the removal of

 huge sums of money from petitioner's Swiss bank accounts maintained in the name

 of OTC.

  Apart from his executive duties, L. Ron Hubbard also engaged in research and

 writing and supervised auditing.

  During the docketed years L. Ron Hubbard was served by an executive group

 variously known as the Commodore's Staff *390 Aides, the Aides Council, and

 the International Board of Scientology Organizations. Mary Sue Hubbard was the

 senior person on the Aides Council. The Aides Council had seven other members,

 one to oversee the planning for each division on the Scientology Org. Board.

 The Org. Board is a theoretical model or blueprint of the organization of a

 Scientology Church. All Scientology Churches around the world were organized

 along similar lines. The Org. Board shows that each Scientology Church was

 organized to have seven divisions and that each division carried on a specific

 function. Division 1, called the HCO Division, was responsible for

 communications. Division 2, called the Dissemination Division, was responsible

 for the dissemination of Scientology literature, materials, and services.

 Division 3, called the Treasury Division, was responsible for finances.

 Division 4, called the Technical Division, was responsible for training and

 auditing. Division 5, called the Qualifications Division, was responsible for

 quality control in the delivery of services. Division 6, called the

 Distribution Division, was responsible for public relations and Division 7, the

 Executive Division, was responsible for managing the organization and

 coordinating the programs and policies of the other divisions on the

 Scientology Org. Board. A member of the Aides Council called a 'CS-1, CS-2,'

 etc., depending on the area of divisional responsibility, was in charge of the

 overall planning for each division. In sum, the Aides Council helped L, Ron

 Hubbard manage petitioner's operations and plan for Churches of Scientology

 around the world.

  The CS-3 on the Aides Council was in charge of a Flag Banking Officer network.

 Each Scientology Organization offering advanced services had a Flag Banking

 Officer (FBO) who banked the organizations funds, reviewed and approved its

 weekly financial plan and generally monitored its financial affairs. The FBO's

 primary responsibility was to insure his church's solvency. The FBO was also

 responsible for collecting and sending to Flag weekly sums for support and

 training. The FBO network was international. During the taxable years in issue,

 the following branches of petitioner's stipulated divisions had an FBO: AOLA,

 ASHO, USLO, and Flag. A precise description of the FBO chain of command does

 not emerge from the record. However, it is clear that the top officials of the

 FBO network were the Flag FBO, the Staff Banking *391 Officer (SBO), and the

 CS-3, all posted at Flag. The continental FBOs operated over the local FBOs,

 under the authority of the top officials of the network. At least during 1969,

 and perhaps during the docketed years, the FBO International, posted at AOLA,

 also exercised mid-level leadership.

  The United States Guardian Office (USGO) located in Los Angeles was in charge

 of petitioner's external affairs. Its chief responsibility was to safeguard

 petitioner's institutional well-being. Towards this end it performed a number

 of functions. It handled petitioner's relations with other organizations

 including governmental bodies and agencies. It also handled legal matters for

 petitioner and other Churches of Scientology in the United States. It performed

 accounting services for petitioner and prepared petitioner's tax returns. It

 informed the public on a national level about the works and doctrines of

 Scientology and documented unfavorable or inaccurate public comment on

 Scientology. During the docketed years, the United States Guardian Office had

 five divisions: Legal, Public Relations, Finance, Intelligence and Technology.

  The United States Guardian Office was part of an international network of

 Guardian offices and Guardian personnel. The highest ranking Guardian was Mary

 Sue Hubbard, L. Ron Hubbard's wife. She held the position of Commodore Staff

 Guardian (CSG). Although Mary Sue Hubbard lived on the Apollo and was the

 senior Guardian, the senior Guardian office, called the Guardian Office

 Worldwide, was part of petitioner's United Kingdom operations. Jane Kember, the

 Guardian Worldwide, headed the office. In addition to USGO and the Guardian

 Office Worldwide, the Guardian network consisted of Guardian personnel attached

 to other branches of the California Church and other Churches of Scientology.

                            B. UNITED KINGDOM CHURCH

  The notice of deficiency issued on December 28, 1977 did not treat the United

 Kingdom Church as a branch of petitioner. It did not include the accounts of

 the United Kingdom Church, and specific transactions between the two Churches

 were treated as transactions between separate entities. Thus, payments made by

 the United Kingdom Church to petitioner's Flag branch were shown as income to

 petitioner and not as internal transfers of funds. Respondent's pretrial

 pleadings and memoranda, reflecting the notice of deficiency, also

 *392 treated the United Kingdom Church as a separate entity from petitioner.

  The trial of this case began on November 10, 1980 and lasted 10 weeks spread

 out over the course of a year. [FN3] The relationship between petitioner and

 the United Kingdom Church was first raised during the third week of trial, on

 December 11, 1980, immediately after petitioner rested its case-in-chief.

 Respondent raised the issue when he sought to introduce into evidence certain

 checks representing franchise payments drawn by the Calgary Scientology Mission

 and variously made payable to the Church of Scientology of California or the

 Church of Scientology of California, WW. Since Worldwide, or its abbreviation

 'WW', was a name used by the United Kingdom Church, respondent sought to show

 by these checks and other evidence that the United Kingdom Church was a branch

 of petitioner. On December 12, 1980, the second day of respondent's case,

 respondent again pressed the Court to hear evidence relating to the United

 Kingdom Church. Respondent disavowed any intention of seeking an increase in

 the notice of deficiency by reason of the United Kingdom Church's income.

 However, respondent urged the Court to entertain the matter on the limited

 issue of petitioner's entitlement to tax-exempt status. Respondent proffered

 three theories of relevance. First, the franchises managed by the United

 Kingdom Church were a commercial operation. Second, petitioner's attempt to

 conceal the corporate status of the United Kingdom Church was one more link in

 the chain of activities making up petitioner's conspiracy to obstruct the

 Internal Revenue Service (IRS or Service). Third, L. Ron Hubbard possibly

 benefited from the money deposited in the Worldwide franchise accounts.

  As the trial progressed, respondent, on February 9, 1981 and again on April 9,

 1981, stated his intention to reduce the scope of his reliance on matters

 relating to the United Kingdom Church so that on April 9, 1981 respondent said

 he planned to use the matter solely as it was relevant to proving petitioner

 conspired to obstruct the IRS. However, respondent quickly retracted this

 decision the following day. On July 20, *393 1981, the first day of the

 seventh week of trial, this Court ruled that respondent could present evidence

 relating to the United Kingdom Church's activities and corporate status under

 three theories of relevance: commercialism, inurement and conspiracy.

 Petitioner began its rebuttal case on August 17, 1981. With continuances

 petitioner completed rebuttal on November 12, 1981. During rebuttal, petitioner

 presented documentary and testimonial evidence directed toward refuting loss of

 tax-exempt status as a result of the United Kingdom Church's operations.

  Respondent knew that his claim that the United Kingdom Church was a branch of

 petitioner made the determination in the notice of deficiency, treating

 payments from the British Church to OTC as Flag income, erroneous. He was aware

 that his new position would therefore necessitate a hearing under Rule 155 to

 recompute the notice of deficiency. Respondent consistently disavowed any

 intention to use the income from the United Kingdom Church to increase the

 notice of deficiency.

  By the end of 1974, respondent's files contained documents from various

 sources identifying the United Kingdom Church as a branch of petitioner. One

 such document was a report entitled 'Enquiry Into the Practice and Effects of

 Scientology' (Foster Report) prepared for the House of Commons in the United

 Kingdom on December 21, 1971 by Sir John G. Foster, K.B.E., Q.C., M.P. The

 report quoted part of a letter from British Scientologists which stated:

  The main activities of Scientology in the United Kingdom are carried on by the

 Church of Scientology of California (non-profit Corporation in California

 registered under Part X of the Companies Act) with its branches at St. Hill

 Manor, London, Brighton, and Swansea. (Foster Report at 26.)

  The report also reprinted in full a policy letter written by L. Ron Hubbard

 explaining the financial considerations which led the California Church to take

 over the United Kingdom Scientology organization and detailing the history of

 the transfer. The files of the IRS also contained balance sheets for the fiscal

 years ended April 5, 1967 and April 5, 1968, which the California Church had

 filed with the Registrar of Companies in the United Kingdom in order to conduct

 its operations there. The balance sheets were headed:

                    *394 CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF CALIFORNIA

   A company incorporated in the State of California, U.S.A. and registered

 under Part X of the Companies Act 1948 on 29th March 1966 and not having a

 share capital.

  In March 1975 respondent audited the Church of Scientology of Hawaii (Hawaii

 Church). This audit was immediately followed by a year-long audit of the

 California Church's 1971-1974 tax years. During these audits respondent

 reviewed letters, checks, receipts, and disbursement vouchers, some bearing

 such names as Church of Scientology of California UK, Church of Scientology of

 California WW, Church of Scientology Worldwide, Publications Org. WW, or HCO WW

 as a name on the letterhead or as the endorsement or payee. A few letters and

 receipts bore petitioner's name in bold print on the letterhead and the words

 'a non-profit corporation in U.S.A. Registered in England' in fine print across

 the bottom.

  A few documents prepared by the IRS show that some of respondent's employees

 knew that the United Kingdom Church was a branch of petitioner. The chief of

 respondent's Foreign Operations Division in a memorandum to the chief of the

 Audit Division, Honolulu District Office, dated November 18, 1966 stated:

   The Hubbards attempted to organize a British corporation as a religious non-

 profit organization, but the British tax authorities refused to grant the

 corporation tax free status. They then organized the Los Angeles corporation

 and they now carry on their British operations as a part of that corporation.

  Respondent's representative in London reviewed the documents petitioner filed

 with the Registrar of Companies in Great Britain. In a memorandum dated

 November 18, 1974, transmitting these documents to respondent's Refund

 Litigation Division, he concluded that the accounts of the United Kingdom

 Church could be incorporated with petitioner's for tax purposes. At least two

 other reports prepared by respondent's representatives show knowledge that the

 California Church was registered to conduct operations in Great Britain. One of

 these reports was distributed to a Scientology Task Force in December 1974. A

 report prepared by Service personnel after auditing the Hawaii Church in March

 1975 tentatively concluded that the Publication Org. WW, a Scientology

 *395 organization operating in the United Kingdom, was a division of the

 California Church.

  Lewis J. Hubbard, Jr. served as respondent's advisory on Scientology matters

 from middle or late 1974 until July 1977. During this period Lewis Hubbard held

 the position of Staff Assistant to the Associate Chief Counsel (Litigation).

 Lewis Hubbard directly oversaw the exempt function audit of the Hawaii Church

 which took place in March 1975 (Hawaii audit) and served as the National Office

 advisor during the year-long audit of petitioner's 1971-1974 tax years (1971-

 1974 audit). Before overseeing the Hawaii audit Lewis Hubbard read a few

 documents which either explained that the United Kingdom Church was a branch of

 petitioner or perhaps made passing reference to this fact. He read the Foster

 Report. He saw petitioner's certificate of incorporation which it filed with

 the Registrar of Companies in the United Kingdom in order to operate there. He

 also skimmed one transmittal memorandum dated November 18, 1974 from

 respondent's London representative which opined that the United Kingdom

 Church's accounts could be incorporated with petitioner's for tax purposes.

 However, Lewis Hubbard did not recall reading that portion of the memorandum.

 During the Hawaii audit, Lewis Hubbard questioned Joel Kreiner, a Church lawyer

 and high-ranking Guardian official, about the status of the United Kingdom

 Church. Kreiner told Lewis Hubbard that petitioner incorporated the United

 Kingdom Church but it operated separately and independently. After overseeing

 the Hawaii audit, Lewis Hubbard authored a report in which he tentatively

 concluded that the Publication Org. WW was a division of the California Church.

 Following the 1971-1974 audit, Revenue Agent Eugene Endo, on the advice of

 Lewis Hubbard, changed some wording in a draft of his report of the audit. The

 original version said that the audit disclosed that petitioner had seven

 branches and then listed them. The final version again stated that petitioner

 had seven branches but inserted the phrase 'California's submission outlined

 the seven branches as follows: :' before listing them.

  On most occasions when the subject arose, petitioner misled respondent about

 the legal status of the United Kingdom Church. In 1967 respondent asked

 petitioner to list its subordinate churches. Petitioner's reply letter did not

 mention *396 the United Kingdom Church. [FN4] Again, during the 1971-1974

 audit, respondent twice asked petitioner to list its divisions. Petitioner did

 not mention the United Kingdom Church. Petitioner was dissatisfied with

 respondent's report of the audit and so wrote its own report correcting what it

 viewed to be respondent's errors. Petitioner's version did not list the United

 Kingdom Church as a branch church. On the first day of trial petitioner and

 respondent filed Stipulation of Facts (Set Number 3) listing the divisions of

 the Church. The United Kingdom Church was not listed. [FN5] During the 1971-

 1974 audit, respondent asked for an explanation of several FOLOs including the

 FOLO in the United States (FOLO WUS) and the FOLO in the United Kingdom (FOLO

 UK) and was told that FOLO WUS was part of petitioner but FOLO UK was part of

 an overseas Church. Also when respondent asked for a list of petitioner's bank

 accounts, none of the United Kingdom accounts were listed in petitioner's

 response. The Church's report of the 1971-1974 audit, in discussing the United

 Kingdom Church's alleged debt repayment to OTC, named several British

 Scientology organizations and stated they were 'part of the corporate entity of

 the UK Church.' Prior to trial, respondent subpoenaed the records of the United

 Kingdom Church bank accounts used to deposit franchise payments. Objecting to

 the subpoena, petitioner in open court said:

   The accounts referred to there are not accounts of the Church of Scientology

 of California and they are not in its custody and control. It is true that the

 accounts bear the name Church of Scientology of California Worldwide but they

 are actually accounts of the United Kingdom Church of Scientology which until

 two years ago, as I understand it, was incorporated as the Church of

 Scientology of California but never, ever was a part of the Church of

 Scientology of California that's involved in this case.

   Those accounts have had nothing to do with the Church of Scientology of

 California involved in this case.

  The United Kingdom Church was formally organized as a branch of petitioner in

 1966 when the assets of the Scientology organizations in the United Kingdom

 were conveyed to petitioner *397 which then registered to do business in the

 United Kingdom as a foreign corporation under the Companies Act of 1948, 11

 Geo. 6, Ch. 38. Tax considerations partly motivated the transfer. British

 authorities would not grant tax-exempt status to local Scientology

 organizations. Petitioner therefore took over the assets of those organizations

 so that they could carry on under petitioner's tax-exempt mantle.

  The United Kingdom Church purported to have its own board of directors.

 Anthony Dunleavy, a high-ranking church official who served as a Commodore

 Staff Aide during the docketed years, testified about his tenure on the board

 preceding the docketed years. He gave three different versions of his term on

 the board, changing dates as he was confronted with conflicting documentary

 evidence. By the end of his testimony he had completely changed his initial

 statement regarding the dates of his tenure. He was also evasive about who were

 the prior members of the board. At first he claimed not to know who they were.

 Then confronted by one of respondent's exhibits, he claimed his memory was

 refreshed and listed the prior members. Testimony about board membership during

 the docketed years was also conflicting, one Church witness naming one set of

 members and another Church witness naming a different set except for one common

 member. A few board minutes were placed in evidence. Two of these are

 captioned 'Church of Scientology of California' and refer in their text to

 officers of the United Kingdom Church as 'Directors of the Church of

 Scientology of California.' The Franchise Office was a major division of the

 United Kingdom Church. The board of the United Kingdom Church did not have

 final authority for its management. Diana Hubbard, L. Ron Hubbard's daughter

 and a Commodore Staff Aide, had the final authority.

  The California Church and the United Kingdom Church shared responsibility for

 the franchises. The California Church issued the franchise charters, [FN6] gave

 them some legal advice, *398 served occasionally as an intermediate

 collection point for franchise payments and ultimately established franchise

 policy. For its part, the United Kingdom Church collected weekly tithes and

 operating reports, distributed policy letters, and gave day-to-day operating

 advice.

  United Kingdom Church officials were signatories on the California Church's

 accounts and vice versa. Mary Sue Hubbard was authorized to sign checks on

 virtually all the United Kingdom Church accounts, including Church of

 Scientology of California Rubric Worldwide Account Number 292236 at the Swiss

 Bank Corporation in Zurich, Switzerland where franchise tithes were deposited.

 Denzil Gogerly, who by all accounts was a member of the board of directors of

 the United Kingdom Church during the docketed years, was sole signatory on

 petitioner's accounts. He signed checks on SFO's and USGO's accounts. Jane

 Kember, the highest ranking official in the United Kingdom Church's Guardian

 Office, was also a sole signatory on petitioner's accounts. Herbie Parkhouse,

 the Deputy Guardian of Finance in the United Kingdom Guardian Office, issued

 checks on the United States Guardian Office account.

  The Guardian Offices of both churches were also interconnected. Mary Sue

 Hubbard at Flag was the chief executive for both offices. Furthermore,

 sometimes both offices collaborated and jointly issued policy directives on

 behalf of L. Ron Hubbard or the California board of directors.

  For part of the docketed years the United Kingdom Church tithed to the United

 States Churches of Scientology Trust. The trustors of this purported trust were

 all Scientology Churches in the United States. Petitioner was a trustor.

  The United Kingdom Church had several divisions. These were: Worldwide; the

 Hubbard College of Scientology, St. Hill; the Hubbard College of Scientology

 St. Hill Foundation; Advanced Organization United Kingdom; London Day; London

 Foundation; Plymouth; Brighton; and Swansea. Worldwide in turn had several

 departments: the Executive Council Worldwide, the Franchise Office Worldwide,

 the Guardian Office Worldwide, and the Flag Operation Liaison Office, United

 Kingdom (FOLO UK). In 1971 the United Kingdom Church underwent some

 reorganization. The Executive Council Worldwide was officially disbanded. The

 Hubbard College *399 of Scientology, St. Hill merged with the Hubbard

 College of Scientology St. Hill Foundation. The FOLO UK split off from

 Worldwide.

                    C. OPERATION TRANSPORT CORPORATION, LTD.

  The Operation Transport Corporation, Ltd., was a L. Ron Hubbard and

 petitioner. It's board of directors lacked bona findes. Panamanian corporation

 incorporated by L. Ron Hubbard, Mary Sue Hubbard and Leon Steinberg on February

 17, 1968. It was not organized as a non-profit corporation. No shares of stock

 were issued.

  OTC was a sham corporation controlled by L. Ron Hubbard, Mary Sue Hubbard and

 Leon Steinberg were the original directors of OTC. They resigned immediately

 after the corporation's formation and were replaced by Brian Livingston, Joyce

 Popham and Barry Watson. All three of these individuals were Flag employees.

 Joyce Popham was the secretary to L. Ron Hubbard's personal aide. Barry Watson

 and Brian Livingston were Class-10 auditors and served on the Aides Council.

 During the docketed years, these three individuals performed only one board

 function. Sometime in the summer of 1972 they approved L. Ron Hubbard's

 decision to transfer approximately $2 million from OTC bank accounts in

 Switzerland to Apollo. That they even performed this function is questionable

 since there are no minutes of the board meeting adopting a resolution

 authorizing the transfer. A signature card for petitioner's account number 6919

 at the Crocker-Citizens National Bank in Los Angeles, California underscores

 the lack of substance of the OTC board of directors. It certifies that on

 November 18, 1968 the board of directors of the 'O.T.S., Advanced Organization

 Church of Scientology of California' authorized the signatories listed on the

 card to sign checks on behalf of the corporation.

  OTC purportedly performed banking services for Flag. However, the record shows

 that OTC had no offices, officers, or employees and that Flag employees were

 actually the ones who handled all of petitioner's financial activities. During

 the docketed years petitioner deposited Flag division funds in accounts

 maintained in the name of OTC. The signatories on the OTC accounts were all

 Flag employees. Except for Joyce Popham, who apparently never wrote a check,

 they had no connection with OTC. Besides keeping the checkbooks, Flag

 *400 officials, not OTC personnel, directed the flow of funds into and out

 of OTC accounts, receipted money for the support of Flag operations and

 controlled and managed Flag expenditures. Furthermore, Flag officials did not

 differentiate between Flag and OTC invoices and disbursement vouchers when they

 recorded Flag receipts and expenses.

  L. Ron Hubbard and Mary Sue Hubbard controlled OTC funds. L. Ron Hubbard

 initiated the practice of depositing Flag funds in OTC bank accounts. Sometime

 before the Apollo went to Corfu in August 1968, he directed a Flag official to

 travel to Zurich, Switzerland to open bank accounts in the name of OTC. At that

 time two numbered accounts were opened. They were account number 295,728 and

 account number 295,728.1. During the taxable years in issue the major share of

 OTC funds were banked in those accounts. There were other OTC accounts. L. Ron

 Hubbard was a signatory on all the major OTC accounts. In the summer of 1972,

 L. Ron Hubbard authorized the transfer of approximately $2 million in cash from

 OTC accounts in Switzerland to the Apollo. The money was stored in a locked

 file cabinet to which Mary Sue Hubbard had the only set of keys.

  To avoid harassment, Flag officials on board the Apollo were instructed to

 tell strangers they were employed by OTC and that OTC was a management company.

 This cover story was first used in March 1969 when the Apollo was suddenly

 asked to leave Corfu, Greece. It was formalized in a Flag Order dated December

 24, 1970.

                             D. THE SEA ORGANIZATION

  The Sea Organization was a fraternal organization of elite Scientologists. Its

 membership consisted of persons who dedicated their lives to work fulltime for

 Scientology. Sea Organization members signed a 'contract of employment'

 pledging to work for the Sea Organization for a billion years. Sea Organization

 members were frequently sent on missions to Scientology organizations

 throughout the world to handle problems interfering with the effective

 administration of the organization and the delivery of Scientology services.

 Organizations mostly or entirely staffed by Sea Organization members were

 called 'Sea Org. Orgs.' The following divisions of petitioner were Sea Org.

 Orgs.: Flag, ASHO, AOLA, and *401 FOLO. The leadership of the Sea

 Organization came from petitioner's Flag Division.

                                  CHURCH POLICY

  California Church officials administered the Church in accordance with written

 policy directives called 'issues.' There were several different kinds of issues

 classified by a combination of factors including author, period of

 effectiveness, and designated audience. The most important issue was called a

 Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter (HCO PL or policy letter). These

 issues were usually written by L. Ron Hubbard. Sometimes, however, they were

 written by a high-ranking Scientologist with L. Ron Hubbard's approval or the

 approval of the Aides Council (also known as the International Board). Policy

 letters set basic administrative policy. They took precedence over all other

 types of issues. Each policy letter was dated and had a legend showing its

 designated area of distribution on the upper left-hand corner of the first

 page. Policy letters were intended to remain in full force and effect until

 officially cancelled or modified by another policy letter.

  Initially policy letters were distributed individually in looseleaf form or in

 packets called 'hat-packs.' Beginning in 1970 a Scientology organization in

 Denmark began to compile the policy letters and publish them by subject matter

 in a comprehensive set of volumes called the Organization Executive Course or

 'OEC.' The project took years to complete. Individual volumes were published as

 they were completed. By 1974 petitioner published the complete nine volume

 work. Most of the policy letters in the OEC series contain information about

 Church administrative practices but some contain instructions on religious

 practice. As previously found, a typical Scientology church has seven operating

 divisions. The OEC volumes are organized so that volumes 1 through 7 of the

 series each contain policy letters relating to the management, operation and

 activities of a corresponding division of a Scientology church. Volume 0 of the

 OEC series is an introductory volume. It contains policy letters describing

 basic staff duties and responsibilities and the rudiments of Church structure

 and organization. The Management Series volume contains policy letters relating

 to data collection, public *402 relations, personnel practices, operational

 control, finances, executive duties, and the establishment of churches. The OEC

 series does not contain every policy letter. The OEC volumes indicate in

 brackets when a policy letter has been formally cancelled or amended. Some HCO

 PLs fell into desuetude without being officially cancelled. [FN7]

  There were other types of policy issues besides policy letters governing

 petitioner's administrative practices. In addition to writing policy letters,

 L. Ron Hubbard also wrote executive directives called L. Ron Hubbard Executive

 Directives (LRH EDs). These communicated short-range orders and directions and

 described current projects and programs. They were generally written for a

 limited audience such as a specific organization, region or staff position. LRH

 EDs were only valid for a year and then they automatically expired. Guardian

 Orders were another type of issue. They set policy for the Guardian Offices and

 Guardian staff of the Churches of Scientology including petitioner. Guardian

 orders were issued by the authority of Mary Sue Hubbard or Jane Kember, the

 Guardian Worldwide Guardian Orders did not expire automatically. Flag Orders

 set policy for Scientology Sea Organizations including the following divisions

 of petitioner: Flag, FOLO, ASHO, and AOLA. Most Flag Orders were written by L.

 Ron Hubbard or with his approval. Flag Orders did not automatically expire at

 the end of a fixed period.

  Another type of issue was the Order of the Day (OOD). The commanding officer

 of every church unit was supposed to write an OOD daily. This form of issue was

 used to communicate newsworthy events, to promulgate daily schedules, and to

 publicize plans and directions for current programs and projects. The first

 section of the Flag Order of the Day was reserved for communications from L.

 Ron Hubbard.

  The front piece of each volume in the OEC contains a partial disclaimer

 stating that the policy letters 'should be construed only as a written report

 of * * * (L Ron Hubbard's) research and not as a statement of claims made by

 the Church or the author.' Despite this disclaimer the California Church

 clearly adopted and utilized the policy letters. Each California Church

 *403 staff member had a folder of materials called a 'hatpack' describing

 the duties of his position and the place his position occupied in the

 organization's structure. The hatpack contained policy letters. Staff members

 were expected to read the hatpack materials and were quizzed on their contents.

 Sometimes the failure to follow a policy letter inspired a quiz on the hatpack

 materials. California Church members also studied policy letters in work-

 training courses they were encouraged to take. One course, the OEC course

 offered by most of petitioner's branch churches, was entirely devoted to the

 study of the OEC volumes. It required 2- 1/2 weeks of study for each volume.

 The Franchise Office Worldwide distributed policy letters to franchise holders

 for use in running the missions, and Flag distributed them to the local

 churches for guidance. In the Flag Division every crew member received and was

 required to read the Flag OOD and Flag Orders.

  One of the guiding principles of Scientology is that most organization

 problems arise from the failure to follow policy. True policy was strictly

 limited to the written policy found in the official issues such as HCO PLs,

 Flag Orders and Executive Directives. California Church members were taught

 that if a directive was not in writing based on official policy, it was not to

 be believed. California Church officials were expected to know the contents of

 HCO PLs and to follow them. One high ranking official referred to policy

 letters on an average of once a day for guidance. The failure to follow policy

 was an offense for which a California Church member could be disciplined

 particularly if the failure resulted in monetary loss or bad publicity. There

 is no evidence in the record that this happened. California Church officials

 did not always robotically implement policy. If a particular policy was

 questionable, staff consulted higher officials, usually in writing, to

 determine a more favorable course of action. Franchise holders providing

 services to the public had more freedom to disregard policy directives than

 petitioner's officials.

                            DISCRIMINATORY SELECTION

  On January 2, 1957 respondent recognized petitioner as an organization

 described in section 501(c)(3) exempt from income tax under section 501(a).

 Petitioner's tax-exempt status was reconfirmed on November 16, 1964. In August

 1965 respondent *404 examined petitioner's records for the taxable year 1963

 and concluded that petitioner was a church; that petitioner received income by

 selling books and E-meters and by providing spiritual counseling and training;

 and that petitioner paid royalties to the L. Ron Hubbard Trustee Account for

 the use of Scientology books and materials. After the examination, respondent

 again confirmed the tax-exempt status of the California Church.

  In 1966 respondent again reviewed petitioner's tax status by examining

 petitioner's Annual Information Returns (Forms 990-A) for 1964 and 1965. The

 record does not disclose what concerns prompted the examination. Following the

 examination, respondent sent petitioner a letter on July 29, 1966 recommending

 revocation of petitioner's tax-exempt status. The letter stated three bases for

 the recommendation: (1) the California Church's income was inuring to the

 benefit of Scientology practitioners; (2) the Church's activities were

 commercial; and (3) the Church was serving the private interests of L. Ron

 Hubbard and Scientology practitioners. The California Church was accorded the

 right to protest the recommendation and to submit documents in support of its

 protest. An informal conference was held in the Los Angeles District Office and

 the proposed revocation was affirmed. A conference was then held in the

 National Office on June 15, 1967 and again the proposed revocation of exemption

 was sustained. One month later on July 18, 1967 respondent issued a formal

 letter of revocation which repeated the same three grounds of revocation as had

 been stated in the original recommendation. Respondent published the revocation

 in the Internal Revenue Bulletin and removed petitioner from its cumulative

 list of organizations qualifying under section 170 for deductible charitable

 contributions. Petitioner was advised that it was required to file Federal

 income tax returns.

  Sometime in the fall of 1966 the Department of Justice asked respondent to

 review the tax status of several Scientology churches including petitioner. The

 request was made as the Department of Justice prepared to defend a case against

 the Founding Church of Scientology (Founding Church) in the United States Court

 of Claims. In that case, the Founding Church sued for refund of its Federal

 income taxes which it had paid after its tax-exempt status had been denied. The

 *405 exemption was denied on the grounds that the Founding Church was

 organized and operated as a commercial venture benefiting private interests and

 that Scientology did not serve a religious purpose. [FN8] Believing that

 respondent's recognition of the tax-exempt status of other Churches of

 Scientology was inconsistent with the defense of the Founding Church case, the

 Department of Justice asked respondent to investigate the matter and rescind

 recognition of all similar Churches of Scientology prior to the trial of the

 Founding Church case.

  In response to this request respondent reviewed the tax status of several

 Scientology churches in addition to petitioner whose tax status was already

 under review. In the spring of 1967, as the trial of the Founding Church case

 approached, pressure to expedite proceedings relating to these churches

 increased. In some cases, denial or revocation of exemption was proposed.

 However, the record is silent with respect to what, if any, final adverse

 action was taken against these churches, besides petitioner, prior to the trial

 of the Founding Church case. Years later the tax status of some of these

 Scientology churches was still under administrative review.

  During 1966 and 1967 a few of respondent's agents spoke critically of

 Scientology or circulated reports calling it a medical quackery; evil; a threat

 to the community, medically, morally and socially; a pseudo-religious

 organization; a grab-bag of philosophical voodooism; and a prey on the public

 pocketbook. These comments were not made by agents in respondent's Exempt

 Organizations Division--the division charged with reviewing petitioner's tax

 status. However, agents in respondent's Exempt Organizations Division were

 privy to memoranda containing these comments and to materials critical of

 Scientology.

  Although petitioner was advised that it was required to file Federal income

 tax returns (Forms 1120), it refused to do so and continued to file Annual

 Information Returns (Forms 990). During 1969 and 1970 Revenue Agent Woodrow

 (Woody) Wilson examined petitioner's records for the taxable years 1964-1967 to

 determine petitioner's tax liability and review its *406 tax status. A

 second agent Robert Cluberton tried to audit petitioner's records for the

 taxable years 1968 and 1969. Petitioner resisted this second audit claiming a

 right to be free from successive audits until its protest of the 1964-1967

 audit, including the denial of its tax-exempt status, was finally resolved.

  On June 7, 1974 respondent mailed a notice of deficiency to petitioner for the

 taxable years 1965 through 1967. The deficiencies were:



  TYE Dec. 31--   Deficiency



      1965 ....... $2,614.19

      1966 ........ 5,041.03

      1967 ....... 13,946.30



  Petitioner filed a timely petition in the Tax Court for the 1965 deficiency.

 In late 1976 respondent settled the case by conceding petitioner's tax-exempt

 status for that year but without prejudice to any other year. Respondent also

 decided not to litigate any cases against petitioner prior to the 1968 taxable

 year and closed the 1966 and 1967 tax years on the basis of 'no change.'

  Returning to 1974, respondent, by the end of the year, was occupied with a

 number of Scientology matters. [FN9] Representatives of the California Church,

 respondent and the Department of Justice met at a conference in Washington,

 D.C. on February 14, 1975 to try to settle some of these matters without

 resorting to litigation. No agreement about substantive issues was reached, but

 the representatives did establish a procedure for handling some of the ever

 mounting tax matters. First, the parties would temporarily suspend litigation.

 Second, respondent would examine the Hawaii Church to determine whether it

 qualified as a tax-exempt organization. Third, the ruling with respect to the

 Hawaii Church would govern all Churches of Scientology organized and operated

 in a similar fashion. Fourth, respondent would examine the California

 *407 Church and any other church that differed from the normal pattern and

 determine what effect, if any, these differences in operation or organization

 had on the organization's qualification for tax-exempt status. [FN10]

  The audit of the Hawaii Church was an exempt function audit covering the tax

 years 1965 and 1966 through 1974. The audit lasted approximately 2 weeks.

 Following the audit of the Hawaii Church the IRS asked the Church and several

 similarly situated churches to submit determination applications, Forms 1023.

 This was done and the IRS set up a special group to process the applications.

 The Hawaii Church received a favorable ruling and so did several other Churches

 of Scientology.

  The audit of the California Church (1971-1974 audit) followed the Hawaii

 audit. The examination began in June 1975 and continued through July 1976

 covering the taxable years 1971 through 1974. Three experienced agents [FN11]

 worked full time on the audit. Under IRS policy, cases involving a church are

 classified as sensitive cases and automatically referred to the National

 Office. Thus, from time to time the agents received advice and guidance from

 Lewis Hubbard, an attorney in the National Office of respondent's Chief

 Counsel.

  The agents examined between 200 and 300 cartons of records, containing

 approximately 2 million documents. The audit covered the following topics: (1)

 petitioner's sources of income; (2) petitioner's corporate structure; (3) the

 purposes of the California Church as stated in corporate documents; (4) the

 administration of the Scientology trust fund; (5) compensation and benefits

 paid or bestowed upon L. Ron Hubbard and his family; (6) the purposes and

 amounts of petitioner's expenditures; (7) certain aspects of Church

 administration including banking practices, recordkeeping and the

 implementation of policy; and (8) Scientology religious beliefs and practices.

  At the outset of the 1971-1974 audit, no thought was given to what procedure

 would be used to obtain a ruling on the audit. As the audit drew to a close,

 the National Office and the *408 District Office jointly decided that the

 technical advice procedure was best since it afforded the California Church an

 opportunity to comment on the facts and issues raised by the audit. [FN12]

  In accordance with the technical advice procedure, Agent Eugene Endo prepared

 a draft report of the audit. The draft report covered the following topics: (1)

 a description of Scientology religious beliefs; (2) a description of

 petitioner's corporate charter, by-laws and amendments thereto; (3) a

 description of petitioner's pricing and sales policies; (4) an explanation of

 the different memberships in petitioner; (5) an account of petitioner's

 charitable and community activities; (6) a description of petitioner's

 promotion methods; (7) a discussion of the role of policy letters in the

 administration of petitioner's affairs; (8) a description of petitioner's

 banking practices and management activities; (9) an analysis of petitioner's

 income and certain expenses by Church branch; (10) an explanation of the

 royalties paid to L. Ron Hubbard; (11) a description of OTC's relationship to

 petitioner; (12) documentation of petitioner's failure to substantiate OTC

 expenditures on behalf of petitioner; (13) an analysis of financial gains

 accruing to OTC from currency conversions; and (14) a history and description

 of the United States Churches of Scientology Trust.

  The technical advice procedure was never fully implemented. The California

 Church took matters into its own hands and sent the National Office Agent

 Endo's draft report (Service audit report) which it had been given for comment

 as a matter of courtesy before Agent Endo had a chance to complete it. The

 Church also sent the National Office a copy of its own report (Church audit

 report). The Church audit report *409 was written in the style of the

 Service audit report in goodly measure adopting verbatim the text of the

 Service audit report. However, there were textual differences, some noted and

 explained in footnotes. According to Church officials, the purpose of the

 Church audit report was to present a fair and accurate version of the

 California Church's tax position. The National Office refused to accept this

 'end-run' and referred the matter back to the Los Angeles District Office.

  In accordance with the technical advice procedure, the examining agent and

 Church officials met in the district office in October 1976 and tried to reach

 agreement on a statement of facts and issues to present to the National Office.

 Agent Endo reviewed the Church audit report, signified his agreement with the

 factual content of certain footnotes in the Church audit report, but complete

 agreement was never reached. [FN13] There remained significant differences in

 the texts and the footnotes of both reports. The matter was then referred to

 the National Office. [FN14] In January 1977 Church and Service representatives

 met in the National Office to discuss the reports. Respondent never issued a

 technical advice memorandum.

  During 1977 petitioner and respondent engaged in settlement negotiations.

 These negotiations were discussed in detail by counsel at a pretrial hearing

 held on petitioner's Motion to Render the Notice of Deficiency Nugatory and for

 Other Relief. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Court made findings about

 the conduct of the settlement talks. The Court found (1) that there was a bona

 fide dispute between the parties which was the subject of negotiations; (2)

 that the notice of deficiency incorporates these legitimate grounds of

 dispute; (3) that respondent was forced to issue the notice of deficiency to

 protect the Government's interest in the revenue since petitioner would not

 consent to extending the statute of limitations which was about to expire

 before a settlement could be reached; and (4) that good-faith settlement

 negotiations continued after the notice of deficiency was issued. The

 *410 Court ultimately found that the determinations were at least

 sufficiently reasonable to render the notice of deficiency valid and therefore

 denied petitioner's motion.

  During negotiations the parties came close to reaching a settlement of their

 disputes over income inuring to OTC's benefit from currency conversions and

 over alleged debt repayments from the Danish Kingdom and United Kingdom

 Churches. Significant differences remained on at least three other issues: (1)

 petitioner's recordkeeping system; (2) petitioner's reporting obligations; (3)

 petitioner's failure to satisfy respondent that it was not implicated in

 criminal activity to impede the IRS from performing its lawful functions.

 Respondent's last offer was made on December 20, 1977. The scope of the offer

 was limited to settlement of petitioner's 1970-1972 taxable years.

  The notice of deficiency was drafted by Agent Endo. It was drafted sometime in

 November, 1977 as the statute of limitations for the taxable years in issue was

 about to expire. The notice was issued on December 28, 1977.

  On March 5, 1980 this Court ruled that compliance with public policy is a

 requirement for exemption from tax under section 501(c)(3). In a Memorandum Sur

 Order dated April 1, 1980, this Court defined the scope of the public policy

 requirement by stating 'this requirement is limited to compliance with well

 defined public policy--such as may be reflected in a criminal or civil

 statute.' Respondent's Trial Memorandum, filed October 3, 1980, catalogued a

 series of petitioner's acts, policies and procedures which respondent intended

 to prove to show petitioner's failure to comply with public policy. These acts,

 policies and procedures included: (1) conspiracy to impede and obstruct the

 Internal Revenue Service under 18 U.S.C. section 371; (2) abuse of the role

 of religious confidant by auditors; (3) the infliction of psychic harm

 including the loss of moral judgment through brainwashing accomplished by

 auditing and other practices and procedures; (4) the use of blackmail and

 intimidation to implement petitioner's 'fair game' policy; (5) the involuntary

 dissolution of marriages and family ties through the enforcement of

 petitioner's 'disconnect' policy; (6) involuntary detention and false

 imprisonment; (7) the making of false statements to immigration authorities in

 violation of 18 U.S.C. section 1544; (8) the *411 removal of large

 amounts of currency from the United States without disclosure; (9) the false

 registration of petitioner's fleet as private yachts used for pleasure when in

 fact they were used for paramilitary training and commercial activities; and

 (10) the drastic punishment of staff and members. By letter ruling dated

 October 30, 1980, the Court precluded respondent from offering proof on many of

 these issues and narrowed the evidence it would entertain on the remaining

 issues to 'ACTS against others that violated civil or criminal law or were

 contrary to well-defined public policy.' Respondent's Trial Memorandum also

 stated two other major issues to be tried in addition to the public policy

 issue: (1) whether part of the California Church's net earnings inured to the

 benefit of L. Ron Hubbard and his family; and (2) whether petitioner engaged in

 commercial activities such that it was not operated exclusively for religious

 purposes.

  Respondent also contended, in a letter to petitioner in connection with

 petitioner's Motion to Render the Notice of Deficiency Nugatory and for Other

 Relief, that (1) the Church's methods are akin to brainwashing; (2) the Church

 employs tactics which are harmful to society; (3) petitioner is a cult; (4)

 Scientology operations are partially a profit-making scheme; and (5) Church

 policies and practices endanger the moral and physical health of citizens and

 create trouble in families. [FN15]

  During the years 1969 through 1975 respondent formed and maintained special

 intelligence units to collect information about certain taxpayers, apparently

 selected by essentially political criteria, to monitor their compliance with

 the tax laws. Two of these units, the Special Service Staff (at first called

 the 'Activist Organization Committee') and the Intelligence Gathering and

 Retrieval Unit, were part of respondent's National Office. The third unit, the

 Case Development Unit, was part of the Los Angeles District Office. All three

 collected information about petitioner.

  In July 1969 the IRS established the Special Service Staff (SSS) to insure

 that dissident groups were not violating the tax laws. The SSS gathered the

 centralized information about *412 taxpayers, frequently selected because of

 their political activism, and disseminated this information to the district

 office having jurisdiction over the particular taxpayer. As a result of SSS

 operations, dissident groups were subject to more rigorous scrutiny for their

 compliance with the tax laws. Also, all exempt organizations which were

 scrutinized by the SSS were subject to special procedures for obtaining

 approval of their applications for exemption from taxation.

  Initially the SSS selected 77 organizations to monitor. On October 8, 1969 an

 additional 22 organizations were targeted. These included the Founding Church

 of Scientology. After the Founding Church was selected, the SSS received some

 information about Scientology churches including petitioner. [FN16] When the

 SSS ceased functioning in 1973, it had amassed close to 3,000 files on

 organizations and approximately 8,500 files on individuals.

  In 1973 respondent established a national intelligence program called the

 Intelligence Gathering and Retrieval Unit (IGRU). This program differed from

 other intelligence operations in that the IGRU gathered general intelligence

 unrelated to a specific investigation of a specific allegation. Agents were

 free to determine whom and what to investigate provided their investigations in

 some way related to IRS investigative jurisdiction. In a number of districts,

 IGRU agents collected intelligence having little relationship to enforcement of

 the tax laws.

  The Los Angeles District unit of IGRU classified petitioner as a 'tax

 register.' In 1975 certain IGRU files in St. Louis were destroyed. One file

 labeled 'subversives' contained materials only about Scientology. [FN17] The

 IGRU was disbanded in mid-1975.

  Between 1968 and 1974 the Case Development Unit staffed by two special agents

 in respondent's Los Angeles Office gathered information they collected

 concerned petitioner's religious operations and financial activities. Their

 files, *413 however, contained a few reports linking petitioner or

 Scientology with criminal activity including homicide, blackmail, guerrilla

 training, break-ins, drug trafficking and the transportation of illegal

 firearms.

                                  ENTANGLEMENT

  Over slightly more than a decade, respondent examined petitioner's records

 four times. In 1965 respondent audited petitioner's 1963 tax year and, in 1969,

 petitioner's 1964-1967 tax years. Between 1971 and 1973 Agent Cluberton

 unsuccessfully tried to examine Church records for 1968 and 1969. The most

 comprehensive audit began in June 1975. It lasted approximately 1 year and

 covered petitioner's 1971-1974 tax years. Three or four agents worked full time

 and others worked as needed. The auditors received and reviewed between two and

 three million records. Most of these were original financial records such as

 invoices, disbursement vouchers and cancelled checks since the California

 Church did not keep business journals or books of account. The examiners also

 reviewed policy issues, membership fees and descriptions, contracts for

 services and employment, organizational charts, Scientology newsletters and

 dissemination pieces, and similar records illustrating petitioner's

 organization, activities and financial practices. The agents also inspected

 petitioner's premises at three or four locations.

  Respondent collected information about Scientology and petitioner. An index

 prepared by the IRS in 1974 shows that respondent had over 6,000 documents

 relating to Scientology in its files. Many of these documents were prepared by

 the IRS and related to specific audits, investigations or lawsuits.

 Approximately 2,000 of these documents were policy letters similar in kind, if

 not identical, to the ones contained in the OEC volumes. Other documents

 transmitted information from confidential sources on such diverse topics as

 their personal experiences in the Church of Scientology, Scientology financial

 activities, the administration of Scientology churches and the names of

 Scientology members. Respondent's files also contained newspaper articles about

 Scientology and pamphlets, magazines and newsletters published by Scientology

 organizations, and a few books and brochures describing Scientology doctrine

 and practices.

  *414 The trial of this case lasted 51 days, spread over 12 months. Many

 matters were covered: petitioner's corporate and management structure,

 petitioner's fee structure, petitioner's banking practices, petitioner's

 dissemination practices, petitioner's relationship to OTC, the administration

 of the Scientology trust fund, IRS antipathy toward Scientology; petitioner's

 efforts to obstruct the IRS, and Scientology beliefs and practices. Petitioner

 called three witnesses -- Joyce Isaacson, Herbert Richardson, and Renee

 Norton -- to provide background information about Scientology beliefs and

 practices. On cross-examination respondent inquired of these witnesses whether

 Dianetics formed part of the religious doctrine of Scientology and whether the

 E-meter was used apart from auditing to conduct security checks as a condition

 of employment. [FN18]

  During the trial, respondent tried to prove that some of petitioner's

 activities served a commercial purpose. Respondent tried to prove that

 petitioner sent staff on missions to branch churches to increase profits, that

 petitioner developed new courses and awareness levels for commercial reasons,

 and that petitioner used commercial techniques to promote Scientology in order

 to make money.

  During the trial, respondent used policy issues to examine witnesses on such

 subjects as petitioner's corporate and management structure, petitioner's

 financial activities and petitioner's efforts to obstruct the IRS. Respondent's

 reliance on policy issues generated collateral examination on the extent to

 which policy issues had to be obeyed. while following this line of inquiry,

 respondent questioned witnesses, past and present members of Scientology, with

 respect to whether they were disciplined for failing to follow policy.

 Respondent also inquired into petitioner's system of discipline and ethics in

 pursuing his inquiry into petitioner's treatment of IRS personnel.

                              *415 CHURCH FINANCES

  Petitioner mainly derived income from four sources: (1) auditing and

 training; (2) sales of Scientology literature, recordings and E-meters: (3)

 franchise operations; and (4) management services. Of these four areas, the

 largest percentage of petitioner's income came from auditing and training. By

 petitioner's own admission, auditing and training sales accounted for the

 following percentages of total income:



       AOLA  ASHO  LAO  SFO  UK



 1971   91    68   85   81   70

 1972   94    50   91   86   70



  Petitioner exacted what it called a 'fixed donation' for its auditing and

 training courses. With few exceptions, these services were never given for

 free. [FN19] Auditing sessions were offered in fixed blocks of time called

 'Intensives.' By petitioner's own admission the general rate of the fixed

 donation for auditing was as follows:



 12 1/2-Hour intensive ......... $625

 25-Hour intensive ............ 1,250

 50-Hour intensive ............ 2,350

 75-Hour intensive ............ 3,350

 100-Hour intensive ..... [FN20]4,250



  At Flag, the fixed donations were 3 to 4 times higher. Additionally,

 petitioner offered two specialized types of auditing for a higher fixed

 donation:



 Integrity Processing--  $750 per 12 1/2-Hour intensive

 Expanded Dianetics--    $950 per 12 1/2-Hour intensive



  *416 Petitioner offered its parishioners a 5-percent discount on the rate

 of fixed donation if the donation was well in advance of the service.

 Petitioner also offered 1-year members and lifetime members a 10-percent and

 20-percent discount, respectively, on services. Apart from these discounts,

 branch churches were not allowed to deviate from standard prices. [FN21]

  There was a special fee arrangement for most staff members. In order to become

 a staff member, a prospective employee had to sign an employment contract. The

 terms of most employment contracts varied from week-to-week employment to

 periods of 2- 1/2 or 5 years. Sea Organization staff members pledged to work

 for a billion years. Contracted staff members, except the week-to-week

 employees, were given free or discounted training and auditing. If, however, a

 staff member breached his employment contract by leaving petitioner's employ

 prior to the contract's expiration, the former staff member, termed a

 'freeloader,' was contractually obligated to pay petitioner a sum equal to the

 full cost of all services received or liquidated damages of $5,000. In order to

 enforce this policy an organization that sent a staff member for training to a

 higher organization was required to have the staff member sign a note in the

 amount of $5,000 before commencing training. The signing of the $5,000 note was

 intended to prevent a staff member from leaving after receiving higher

 training. HCO PL December 14, 1969, 3 OEC 241, entitled 'ORG Protection,'

 required that 'Such a Note * * * must be legally binding in that, if he breaks

 his Contract, he is automatically in debt to the org for $5,000.' In order to

 insure collection of such amounts, petitioner paid its agents a 10-percent

 commission for each freeloader debt collected in full. *417 No effort was

 made by petitioner to collect freeloader debts in court.

  Individual applicants for training and auditing were required to execute two

 documents. Under the first document, entitled the 'Pledge of Offering,' the

 applicant pledged a specified amount as an offering to petitioner in exchange

 for a limited amount of training or auditing directed toward the attainment of

 a specified state of spiritual awareness.

  Additionally, the applicant was required to execute a second document,

 entitled a 'Legal Contract for Auditing and Training.' Under this document, the

 applicant declared that he or she was a proper applicant for training, which

 entailed among other things that the applicant was of legal age, that he or she

 did not have any medical illness, that he or she did not have a record of

 institutionalization, that he or she did not have a criminal record, and that

 he or she was not addicted to drugs or alcohol. Furthermore, pursuant to this

 contract, the applicant waived all rights of action against petitioner L. Ron

 Hubbard arising from the receipt of the designated services except the right to

 request a refund within 3 months of the last day of the services rendered.

  Petitioner promoted Scientology services through free lectures, congresses,

 free personality testing, handouts and advertisements placed in newspapers and

 magazines and on the radio. Petitioner geared promotional activities to be

 responsive to community concerns after taking surveys to ascertain community

 needs and desires.

  Two categories of staff-registrars and Field Staff Members--had the job of

 establishing contact with the public to stimulate interest in Scientology

 services. Registrars in the public division of petitioner's branch churches

 kept track of new people who showed an interest in Scientology. The registrars

 were trained in salesmanship. They encouraged new people to purchase

 introductory Scientology courses. Once a new person showed a commitment to

 Scientology through the purchase of a major Scientology service, responsibility

 for his progress was turned over to registrars in the dissemination division of

 petitioner's branch churches who monitored each parishioner's training and

 auditing progress through a central file system. This second group of

 registrars had the duty of *418 contacting people listed in the central

 files by mail or in person and urging them to take higher Scientology services.

  In addition to the actions of the registrars, petitioner used another group of

 people known as Field Staff Members (FSMs), who also contacted individuals in

 an effort to interest them in Scientology. These FSMs operated on a commission

 basis. They were paid an amount equal to 10 percent of the fixed donation for

 each person they successfully enrolled in a Scientology service. Additionally,

 the FSMs received awards in the form of scholarship money for Scientology

 courses based on their ability to make commissions.

  Petitioner earned money from the sale of books, E-meters and recordings.

 According to petitioner during the taxable years 1971 and 1972, AOLA, ASHO, SFO

 and LAO alone generated in excess of $400,000 and $500,000, respectively, from

 the sale of these items. By petitioner's admission, sales of these items

 accounted for the following percentages of total income:



       AOLA  ASHO  LAO  SFO  UK



 1971   1     24   10   16   3

 1972   5     49    7   14   3



  ASHO PUBS, a division of ASHO, from 1971 onwards published and distributed

 these items. As a distributor, it sold these items to other churches and

 missions of Scientology as well as commercial bookstores for resale.

  The major portion of the books distributed by ASHO PUBS were copyrighted by L.

 Ron Hubbard. Through the year 1972, L. Ron Hubbard's collected works on

 Dianetics, Scientology and closely related topics included two multi-volume

 encyclopedic series and more than 50 other books and publications. [FN22] L.

 Ron Hubbard also recorded more than 3,000 lectures dealing with Scientology

 technology, administration and policies between the years 1950 and 1972. Tapes

 for 509 of such lectures were regularly available to the public. Additionally,

 petitioner sold E-meters which L. Ron Hubbard invented and on which he had a

 patent.

  Petitioner had an elaborate system of prices and discounts for books. In 1959

 petitioner used the following formula to *419 price its books: It took the

 printing cost and multiplied by 5. In 1965 this formula underwent a slight

 change. The basic formula, 5 times the printing cost, stayed the same but to

 this figure petitioner added 2 times the cost of postage to the furthest

 church. This formula established a minimum price. During the docketed years,

 the list price of books sold by petitioner through its bookstore ranged from a

 low of $2 to a high of $225 or $300 for the OEC series. [FN23] Books could not

 be given away. They had to be sold. Books sold to Scientology members were

 discounted by 10 percent. Books sold to other Scientology churches, including

 branches of petitioner, were discounted by 40 percent. Books sold to commercial

 bookstores were also discounted in accordance with the following schedule:



 1 Book ........... 25%

 2 - 9 Books ...... 33/13 [sic]

 10 - 49 Books .... 40

 50 - 99 Books .... 41

 100 - 249 Books .. 42

 250 - 499 Books .. 43

 500 Books ........ 45



  The retail price of an E-meter during the tax years at issue was around $200;

 however, discounts were available in accordance with the following schedule:

  1. On individual purchases without any membership, full price, no discount.

   2. International Membership holders -- 20% discount.

   3. Bulk sales (10-40 meters) -- 35% discount.

   4. Bulk sales (50 or more meters) -- 40% discount.

   5. All contracted staff -- 40% discount.

  Petitioner's third souce of income came from its franchise operations.

 Petitioner's Franchise Programme was first introduced in the early part of

 1959. Under the Franchilse Programme, interested auditors were granted

 franchises which authorized them to use the names 'Applied Philosophy',

 'Scientology', and 'Dianetics', along with the copyrights associated therewith,

 in a certain district or territory. Additionally, *420 franchise holders

 were granted 40 percent discounts on their purchases of books that they could

 later resell to the public. In exchange, the franchise holder agreed (1) to

 remit 10 percent of his or her gross income to HCO WW, and (2) to abide by the

 policies governing franchises. The rates franchise holders could charge for

 processing and courses were set by L. Ron Hubbard and made known to the

 franchise holders in the form of policy letters. Franchises were strictly

 forbidden from providing any free services.

  In order to obtain a franchise, an interested person had to first file an

 application for an interim franchise. Initially, these franchises were granted

 directly by L. Ron Hubbard; however, during the tax years at issue, the

 franchises were issued to the applicant by petitioner as agent for L. Ron

 Hubbard.

  A principal objective of the Franchise Programme was to involve members of the

 public and push them up to upper level orgs, such as St. Hill, AOLA, ASHO and

 Flag. [FN24] To this end, franchise holders were only permitted to offer lower

 level courses and were encouraged to send their students to the higher level

 orgs for more advanced training. For each student which the franchise holder

 successfully referred to petitioner, he received a Field Staff Commission equal

 to 10 percent of the amount the student spent at the higher level

 organizations.

  In conducting the Franchise Programme, petitioner placed a heavy emphasis on

 statistics and the regular payment of the required 10 percent of gross income

 to HCO WW. In this regard, the franchise holders were required to keep a set of

 books and records and to submit weekly reports of the franchise holder's

 activities, along with their weekly remittance of the required 10 percent of

 gross income. Franchise holders who failed to submit the required 10 percent of

 gross income on a regular basis ran the risk of losing their franchise.

  During the tax years at issue, the franchises were administered by the

 Franchise Office Worldwide, which was directed by the Franchise Offer. As part

 of his responsibilities, the Franchise Officer sent the franchise holders

 policy letters pertinent to running their franchises and collected the 10

 *421 percent payments from each franchise. These payments were then reported

 on the books of petitioner's United Kingdom Church under the designation

 'Tithes.' The record is not clear how much income the Franchise Programme

 generated. By petitioner's own records, the income from its franchising

 operations during the tax years in question was as follows:



 1970 ....... $288,672

 1971 ........ 307,809

 1972 .. [FN25]435,960



  Petitioner's Flag Bureau generated a fourth source of income through the

 provision of management services to Scientology organizations around the world,

 including branches of petitioner. Flag collected a variety of statistics from

 each local church and organization and used this data to develop programs for

 improving local church administration. When a local church experienced

 difficulty, Flag sent staff on assignments, called 'missions,' to help manage

 the situation. The purposes of such missions were varied and included

 straightening out financial mismanagement, increasing gross income, clarifying

 job responsibilities, attracting new parishioners, and insuring excellence in

 the delivery of services. Flag concentrated its attention on the organizations

 that made the greatest contribution to Flag's financial support. The fee for

 these management services was 10 percent of the corrected gross income of the

 organizations and franchises that were not obligated to pay 10 percent to

 Worldwide.

  Flag collected statistics to track Scientology's worldwide growth and

 expansion as well as individual and local church productivity. These statistics

 were reviewed by Flag and used as a basis for the development of programs,

 policies and procedures to increase the organization's growth and expansion. As

 a basis for these statistics, each local church was required to follow a

 standard method for reporting statistics to petitioner's Flag Bureau. Required

 statistics included measures of output for each division within a church. This

 statistic was called the 'Gross Divisional Statistic,' or 'GDS,' and was

 specific to each division; for example, the GDS of the Dissemination Division

 was gross income, while the GDS of the *422 Treasury Division was the amount

 of credit collected and the amount of bills paid. Each church had an

 organizational Information Center (OIC) which graphed and posted divisional

 statistics. The OIC also transmitted certain statistics to Worldwide on a

 weekly basis. Worldwide then transmitted (via Telex) accumulated statistics to

 Flag, where they were graphed and posted in the Control Information Center

 (CIC) and on the wall outside the Flag Treasury Division. These graphs

 reflected overall Scientology income, Flag income, and LRH Comm. Statistic

 Revised income, [FN26] as well as other income figures. In addition, each Flag

 staff member had a graph of his job statistic posted next to his desk.

  One of petitioner's articulated goals was to make money. This was expressed in

 HCO PL March 9, 1972, MS OEC 384, which enumerated the Governing Policy of

 Finance as follows:

                                GOVERNING POLICY

  A. MAKE MONEY

  B. Buy more money made with allocations for expense (bean theory).

  C. Do not commit expense beyond future ability to pay.

  D. Don't ever borrow.

  E. Know different types of orgs and what they do.

  F. Understand money flow lines not only in an org but org to org as customers

 flow upward.

  G. Understand EXCHANGE of valuables or service for money (P/L Exec Series 3

 and 4).

  H. Know the correct money pools for any given activity.

  I. Police all lines constantly.

  J. MAKE MONEY.

  K. MAKE MORE MONEY.

  L. MAKE OTHER PEOPLE PRODUCE SO AS TO MAKE MONEY.

  A small sack of beans will produce a whole field of beans. Allocate only with

 that in mind and demand money be made. * * *

  Petitioner often used business terminology to describe its operations.

 Churches were referred to as 'orgs.' Church missions were called 'franchises'

 until 1971 when their designation in the United States was officially changed

 to 'mission.' However, even after the name change, petitioner continued to

 refer to the administrator of the missions as the Franchise Officer. Fees for

 auditing were called 'prices' *423 rather than 'fixed donations,' and

 petitioner frequently said its services were 'purchased,' 'bought,' or 'sold'

 rather than 'donated,' 'offered,' or 'contributed.' HCO PL May 23, 1969 (Issue

 III), 0 OEC 91-93, describing 134 measures to take to insure Church solvency,

 exemplifies these patterns of speech. It states in part:

  90. DEPARTMENT 17 (DEPT OF PUBLIC REHABILITATION): SELLS SCIENTOLOGY TO

 GOVERNMENTS AND BROAD SOCIAL STRATAS (SIC).

  92. Makes Scientology popular and the thing to do. * * *

  107. DEPARTMENT 20 (DEPT OF ACTIVITIES): Guides in new body traffic. * * *

  109. Sees that the Introductory Lecture and nonclassed courses use no words

 that will be misunderstood and MAKES PEOPLE WANT TO BUY TRAINING AND PROCESSING

 and offers it. * * *

  124. DEPARTMENT 22 (DEPT OF FIELD RECRUITMENT, ESTABLISHMENT AND RECORDS):

 Recruits, appoints and establishes FSMs, Groups and Franchises. * * *

  128. Gets all commissions owed promptly paid to ENCOURAGE EARNING MORE

 COMMISSIONS.

  129. DEPARTMENT 23 (DEPT OF FIELD TRAINING): Trains the FSMs and Franchise

 holders and MAKES THEM FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL.

  130. TREATS THE WHOLE DEPARTMENT ACTIVITY AS SALESMEN ARE HANDLED BY ANY OTHER

 BUSINESS ORG. (Emphasis added.)

  This policy letter is not an isolated phenomenon. Even during the trial of

 this case, the testimony of petitioner's church witnesses was heavily

 punctuated with business terminology.

  Petitioner performed charitable works. It provided assistance to prisoner's

 ex-offenders, the elderly, the mentally ill, and drug addicts. It helped form

 Narcanon, a drug-rehabilitation program. It organized a job referral service

 for ex-offenders and it developed an educational program called Applied

 Scholastics. On oCCsion, it also assisted the poor and sick.

  *424 Petitioner performed christenings, funerals, and wedding ceremonies

 free of charge. Petitioner's chaplains provided free marriage and family

 counseling. Petitioner also provided a specialized form of auditing free of

 charge called 'ARC break' auditing. This service was geared to help people in

 crisis.

  In his notice of deficiency, respondent determined that petitioner's seven

 stipulated divisions (SFO, LAO, FOLO, ASHO, AOLA, USGO, and Flag) had the

 following consolidated net incomes during the docketed years:



             Income                    1970            1971            1972



 Gross receipts ................. $2,249,013.08   $3,301,143.73   $3,134,391.00

 Advance payments ...............    373,222.37      788,704.96    1,198,763.86

 Flag income ....................................    263,557.47      240,932.55

 Payment Danish Kingdom Church ..................         77.92       53,609.76

 Payment United Kingdom Church ..................     76,497.24      161,018.38

                                  --------------  --------------  --------------

       Total income .............  2,622,235.45    4,429,981.32    4,788,715.55



            Expenses



 Per Form 990 ...................  2,438,646.65    4,242,124.02    4,178,876.05

 Trust ..........................    (28,930.34)     (67,892.40)     (77,986.62)

 Charter Mission (disallowed) ...   (982,415.39)  (1,143,928.02)  (1,400,015.99)

 Flag expenses ..................................  1,238,466.30    1,036,108.56

                                  --------------  --------------  --------------

       Total allowable expenses .  1,427,300.92    4,268,769.90    3,736,982.00

       Net income ...............  1,194,934.53      161,211.42    1,051,733.55



  Petitioner does not contest the accuracy of these figures, but does disagree

 with the tax treatment accorded them by respondent.

  Petitioner collected advance payments from parishioners for auditing and

 training services of $373,222.37 in 1970, $788,704.96 in 1971 an $1,198,763.86

 in 1972. These were payments from people for whom no services were rendered

 during the year the payments were received. It was petitioner's policy to

 refund advanced payments upon request at any time before the services were

 taken. There is no evidence in the record that petitioner kept the advance

 payments segregated or placed restrictions on the use of these funds.

 Petitioner used the cash method of accounting for its receipts except it

 treated advance payments as liabilities.

  *425 The Charter Mission expenses represented amounts transferred by

 petitioner to OTC during the tax years. Petitioner deducted these payments as

 expenses on its Forms 990. Respondent disallowed the deduction on the grounds

 that the payments were not a business expense but constituted an internal

 transfer of funds to the Flag Division. On brief, petitioner does not contest

 the adjustment.

  Petitioner deducted payments of $28,930.34 in 1970, $67,892.40 in 1971, and

 $77,986.62 in 1972 to the Central Defense and Dissemination Fund. According to

 petitioner these were payments to the United States Church of Scientology

 Trust (the Trust).

  Petitioner alleged that the Trust originated in 1962. However, there was no

 trust document during the docketed years. The Trust was first memorialized by

 Declaration of Trust on June 25, 1973. L. Ron Hubbard was the sole trustee of

 the Trust during the docketed years.

  During the docketed years no investments were made with trust funds. They were

 deposited in several Swiss bank accounts: Rubric Trustee Account No. 272,893.6,

 Church of Scientology of California Trustee Account No. 285,222, Church of

 Scientology of California Trustee Account No. 285,222.1, L. Ronald Hubbard

 Trustee Account No. 272,893.2 and L. Ronald Hubbard Trustee Account No.

 272,893.3 at the Swiss Bank Corporation in Zurich, Switzerland. Funds were also

 deposited in Account No. 015867.226 at the Swiss-Israeli Trade Bank, Geneva,

 Switzerland. L. Ron Hubbard, Mary Sue Hubbard and Denzil Gogerly (a United

 Kingdom Church official who administered the Trust) were all sole signatories

 on the trust accounts. L. Ron Hubbard kept the trust checkbooks. Member

 churches were required to remit 10 percent of their total income to the Trust

 on a weekly basis.

  In 1972, 4,222,015 Swiss francs ($1,119,678) [FN27] was withdrawn from the

 trust accounts in Switzerland. petitioner's worksheets originally showed this

 withdrawal as an inter-account transfer to OTS. This is crossed out and in

 different handwriting the transaction is shown as cash held. According to

 petitioner, this money was brought aboard the Apollo where it *426 was kept

 in a locked file cabinet until 1975. Mary Sue Hubbard had the only keys to the

 cabinet.

  Membership in the Trust was restricted to churches of Scientology in the

 United States. However, the Trust was administered in England by Denzel

 Gogerly, a United Kingdom Church official, and the United Kingdom Church tithed

 to the Trust until sometime in 1971. Financial statements for the Trust

 covering the docketed years were belatedly prepared in 1973. They were prepared

 in South Africa. They were prepared for the benefit of ten churches of

 Scientology in the United States although the Declaration of Trust recites only

 five member churches.

  According to the financial statements finally prepared in 1973, the trust

 accounts had the following net proceeds and accumulated funds for the docketed

 years:



                              Accumulated

  Year ended    Net proceeds     funds



 Dec. 31, 1970   $86,170.80    $812,134.51

 Dec. 31, 1971   254,084.71     930,400.08

 Dec. 31, 1972   376,837.18   1,307,237.26

 July 18, 1973   691,106.02   1,998,343.08



  The purported purpose of the Trust was the defense of Scientology. During the

 docketed years there was only one disbursement for such purpose in the amount

 of $9,290.47. USGO expended substantially greater amounts for legal fees.

  The United Kingdom Church was a branch of petitioner. According to

 petitioner's records, the United Kingdom Church earned the following profits:



                         1970        1971         1972



 Total receipts        $892,783   $2,017,850   $1,815,509

 Less: Total expenses  (593,102)  (1,221,433)    (998,937)

                       ---------  -----------  -----------

       Net income       299,681      796,417      816,572



  It was petitioner's policy to build large cash reserves and to deduct payments

 to these cash reserves as business expenses. These reserves were mainly held in

 OTC bank accounts. The year-end balances of the OTC bank accounts are shown in

 the following table:



 [Note:  The following TABLE/FORM is too wide to be displayed on one screen.

 You must print it for a meaningful review of its contents.  The table has been

 divided into multiple pieces with each piece containing information to help you

 assemble a printout of the table.  The information for each piece includes: (1)

 a three line message preceding the tabular data showing by line # and

 character # the position of the upper left-hand corner of the piece and the

 position of the piece within the entire table; and (2) a numeric scale

 following the tabular data displaying the character positions.]

 *******************************************************************************

 ******** This is piece 1. -- It begins at character 1 of table line 1. ********

 *******************************************************************************

                                        OTC BANK ACCOUNTS



                                    YEAREND (DEC. 31) BALANCE

                        Bank account

           Bank            number             1970             1971



   (1)  Swiss Bank        295,728         $1,721,748.46    $1,653,475.50

          Corp.

   (2)  Swiss Bank        295,728.1           25,757.85        50,723.24

          Corp.

   (3)  Swiss Bank        295,728.2            ---           98,743.80

          Corp.

   (4)  Banque            081,920.4            ---            110,852.06

          Marocaine

   (5)      du            10,5616.2            ---              1,330.93

   (6)   Exterieur        90,1924.0            ---             36,289.48

   (7)       "            90,1928.0            ---              8,425.93

   (8)       "            217.734.2            ---             11,937.44

   (9)       "        02.03.C.05616.5          ---              ---

  (10)  Banco de          93,7470             20,577.44         1,433.57

          Vizcaya

  (11)  Banco              15,855              ---              7,697.29

          Unquijo

  (12)  Banco              23,718              ---           52,356.93

          Espirito

          Santo E

          Comercial

          de Lisboa

  (13)  1st              20,48.007             ---              9,565.87

          National

  (14)  Banco de        Ellen Kayman             742.59         ---

          Vizcaya

  (15)  Banco de           917290              2,340.66         ---

          Vizcaya

  (16)  Banco               8631               1,814.72         ---

          Hispano

          Americano

                     ------------------  ---------------  ---------------  ---

           Total                           1,772,981.72     2,042,831.54

 1...+...10....+...20....+...30....+...40....+...50....+...60....+...70....+..

 *******************************************************************************

 ******* This is piece 2. -- It begins at character 78 of table line 1. ********

 *******************************************************************************



       1972



       $1,825,724.25



               25.81



          163,820.00



          380,629.76



         ---

        ---

         ---

           19,272.56

           43,610.02

            1,477.60



           19,535.64



          106,965.05



              628.29



        ---



        ---



        ---



 -------------------

  [FN28]2,561,688.98

 78.....+...90....+.



  *427 During the tax years at issue, L. Ron Hubbard and Mary Sue Hubbard

 received salaries from petitioner in the following amounts.



                    1970    1971    1972



 L. Ron Hubbard    $4,932  $9,368  $35,000

 Mary Sue Hubbard   3,017   2,430   25,000

                   ------  ------  -------

      Total         7,949  11,798   60,000



  Additionally, according to petitioner's own records, L. Ron Hubbard and Mary

 Sue Hubbard received 5,125.11.4 pounds in fees from the United Kingdom Church

 in 1970, 15,770.67 pounds in 1971, and 23,199.90 pounds in 1972. [FN29] Using

 the *428 conversion rate of 2.4 suggested by petitioner's witness, these

 amounts translate into $12,300.27 in 1970, $37,849.61 in 1971, and $55,679.76

 in 1972. Thus, by petitioner's own admission, L. Ron Hubbard and Mary Sue

 Hubbard received salary payments from petitioner totaling $20,249.27 in 1970,

 $49,647.61 in 1971, and $115,679.76 in 1972.

  In addition to the outright salary payments detailed above, during the years

 at issue, L. Ron Hubbard, Mary Sue Hubbard, and their four children resided for

 the most part aboard the Apollo. While aboard ship, petitioner paid the

 Hubbard's living expenses which included free lodging, food, laundry, and

 medical services. In 1970 Flag expended $31,720 for the benefit of the Hubbard

 family.

  L. Ron Hubbard received royalty payments in connection with petitioner's sale

 of books and E-meters. These royalties were paid by ASHO and were computed on

 the basis of 10 percent of the retail price of the publications and E-meters

 distributed by ASHO PUBS. Parenthetically, we note that the retail price of

 these items was determined by a formula developed by L. Ron Hubbard. Beginning

 in August of 1971, all such royalties were paid on a weekly basis, while back

 royalties attributable to periods prior to that time were paid intermittently

 on later dates.

  The amounts of royalties paid by ASHO to the account of L. Ron Hubbard during

 the years 1971 and 1972 were as follows:



 1971 .. $10,649.22

 1972 .. 104,618.27



  Additionally, as of April 29, 1972, there were unpaid back royalties of

 $17,187.70 for the year 1971 which, along with all back royalties, were paid to

 L. Ron Hubbard by the end of 1974. The majority of ASHO PUB's sales of E-meters

 and books upon which royalties were paid to the account of L. Ron Hubbard were

 to other Scientology churches including branches of petitioner.

  It was a long-standing policy of petitioner that all works pertaining to

 Scientology and Dianetics had to be copyrighted to L. Ron Hubbard. As a result

 of this policy a number of publications copyrighted by L. Ron Hubbard were

 actually written by others. For example, Ruth Mitchell wrote the book 'Know

 Your People,' and Peter Gillum wrote the book 'How *429 to Be Successful';

 however, both books were copyrighted by L. Ron Hubbard. Additionally, there are

 many policy letters contained in the OEC series that were actually written by

 paid employees of petitioner with L. Ron Hubbard's approval. Nevertheless,

 despite the fact that L. Ron Hubbard did not personally author the entire nine-

 volume set, he did receive royalty payments on the sale of this publication.

  Petitioner expended funds to protect L. Ron Hubbard's patents and copyrights.

  Sometime in the 1960s, Scientology organizations around the world began paying

 L. Ron Hubbard 10 percent of their income in the guise of debt repayment. These

 payments were variously referred to as 'LRH 10,' 'LRH RR,' AND 'LRH COMM.

 STATISTIC (STAT.) REVISED.' THE RECORD IS PAMPERED WITH REFERENCES TO THESE

 ALLEGED DEBT REPAYMENTS IN FBO CORRESPONDENCE AND POLICY LETTERS PREDATING THE

 DOCKETED YEARS. IT IS CLEAR FROM THESE DOCUMENTS THAT THERE WAS NO SET AMOUNT

 OF DEBT WHICH HAD BEEN NEGOTIATED BETWEEN L. RON HUBBARD AND PETITIONER OR ANY

 OTHER ORGANIZATION BUT RATHER A CONTINUING OBLIGATION TO MAKE PAYMENTS BASED ON

 TOTAL RECEIPTS.

  Petitioner continued to funnel debt repayments to L. Ron Hubbard during the

 docketed years. Between October 9, 1972 and December 28, 1972, USLO, also

 called FOLO, receipted $19,324.41 in debt repayment from Scientology

 organizations throughout the United States and Canada including branches of

 petitioner. On petitioner's invoices (records of receipt), these payments were

 designated 'LRH Repayments,' 'Founding Debt Payment' or 'Per HCO Policy Letter

 7 Sept. 72.'

                                   CONSPIRACY

  Petitioner, its agents, and others willfully and knowingly conspired to

 defraud the United States by impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful

 functions of the IRS in the determination, assessment, and collection of income

 taxes due from petitioner and from other Scientology organizations and

 officials. The conspiracy began in 1969 and continued until approximately July

 7, 1977 when the FBI, pursuant to a warrant, searched petitioner's premises for

 evidence of the conspiracy and related crimes.

  There is a written record documenting most of this conspiracy, some of it in

 official Church publications, some in confidential *430 orders issued by

 petitioner's Guardian Office, and some in correspondence between Scientology

 officials. Prior to and during the course of the conspiracy, L. Ron Hubbard

 issued policy letters and directives depicting the IRS as a danger to

 Scientology, and threatening to make the IRS swim in circles. During 1969

 personnel in petitioner's FBO network corresponded about plans to protect

 petitioner's tax-exempt status by forging records to conceal petitioner's

 relationship with OTC. Two confidential orders formulated by petitioner's

 Guardian Office in 1972 and 1974, respectively, outlined plans to thwart IRS

 investigations into the tax status of Churches of Scientology by burglarizing

 Government offices and stealing Government documents. Reports sent to

 petitioner's Guardian Office describe compliance with the confidential Guardian

 Order issued in 1974.

  In 1969 the IRS began an audit of petitioner's records to determine

 petitioner's tax liability for the years 1963 through 1967. In the same year

 top officials on petitioner's staff in the FBO network grew concerned that

 petitioner's large payments to OTC, a foreign corporation not holding tax-

 exempt status, would jeopardize petitioner's tax-exempt status. To disguise

 these payments as debt repayment and to conceal the OTC sham, a cover story was

 developed. [FN30] The theme of the coverup story was that OTC was a corporation

 which provided training and consultation services to petitioner for a fee.

 Petitioner planned several measures to implement this cover and some of them

 were actually executed.

  *431 On May 25, 1969 Vicki Polimeni, SBO and high-ranking official in the

 FBO network, by dispatch orchestrated a plan to disguise payments AOLA and

 other Advanced Organizations in Denmark and the United Kingdom made to OTC as

 debt repayment. She ordered the FBO at AOLA and various other Advanced

 Organizations to prepare and backdate weekly statements showing that each

 Advanced Organization was making expenditures ON BEHALF OF OTC. [FN31] The FBOs

 were directed to make these statements using Flag bill folders and Flag

 summaries. However, the Polimeni dispatch directed the FBOs not to mention Flag

 on the prepared statement. A mock statement itemizing Advanced Organization

 expenditures on behalf of OTC was included in the dispatch as an example.

 [FN32] The dispatch further explained that at the same time the FBOs were

 preparing the statements, the SBO and others at Flag would prepare billings

 from OTC to the Advanced Organizations using the statements to substantiate the

 billings. The purpose of these statements and billings was to manufacture

 evidence to show to the IRS which would disguise Advanced Organization payments

 to OTC as debt repayment for services OTC had allegedly rendered. In fact OTC,

 by petitioner's own admission, did not perform services for petitioner of the

 type described in the mock statement.

  As part of the coverup plan, the FBO International wrote the FBO at AOLA on

 May 29, 1969 informing him that changes would have to be made to AOLA's

 disbursement vouchers and invoices to OTC dating back to August 1968 to make

 them support petitioner's tax story. (Petitioner's branch churches used

 disbursement vouchers to record payments and invoices to record receipts.) On

 June 1, 1969 the FBO International also directed the FBO AOLA to prepare new

 signature cards and change the drawer's name on checks for account number 6919

 used by AOLA but periodically maintained in the name of OTC at the Wilshire-

 Westlake Office of *432 the Crocker-Citizens National Bank in Los Angeles.

 This was done. Signature cards for this account show that between August 2,

 1968 (when the account was established) and August 13, 1969 the account was

 periodically held in the name of OTS or OTC, in combination with petitioner's

 name or AOLA's name. However, beginning on August 14, 1969, account number 6919

 was held in AOLA's name with no mention of OTC. Sometime in 1969 the drawer's

 name was also changed on checks for account number 6919 from OTS to Church of

 Scientology of California Advanced Organization of Los Angeles Reserve Account.

  During the docketed years, petitioner advocated and practiced the use of

 obstructionist tactics to thwart IRS investigations of petitioner and

 affiliated churches. In 1970 petitioner's tax returns for the taxable years

 1964 through 1967 were under audit. In June or July of that year Martin

 Greenberg, the Church's accountant, told an assembled group of Scientologists

 [FN33] that he purposely made the audit difficult. He said he gave the examiner

 boxes of original records, disbursement vouchers and invoices in no semblance

 of order with the intent of so hopelessly overwhelming and confusing the

 examiner that he would be forced to give up the examination and accept

 petitioner's version of the facts. In April 1972 Mr. Greenberg instructed a

 member of the financial staff at an affiliated Church of Scientology to use

 similar tactics if IRS agents ever came to her church to examine records. She

 was told to give the IRS agent a bunch of records in a box in no semblance or

 order, to place the agent in a dark, small, out-or-the-way room, to refuse to

 give practical assistance like locating records, and to notify petitioner's

 Guardian Office immediately of the agent's presence. Henning Heldt,

 petitioner's vice president and the Deputy Guardian Finance in petitioner's

 Guardian Office, gave this staff member similar instructions.

  For approximately two years from May 1971 through February 1973, IRS Agent

 Robert Cluberton tried unsuccessfully to audit petitioner's 1968 and 1969 tax

 returns. [FN34] Part of the *433 audit's lack of success was attributable to

 the IRS's failure to pursue vigorously the audit and part to petitioner's

 refusal to cooperate. [FN35] Petitioner never allowed agent Cluberton access to

 its financial records. On February 9, 1973 agent Cluberton served an

 administrative summons on Henning Heldt, vice-president and director of

 petitioner. The summons specified records and documents to be produced and

 allowed a 10-day return. Heldt did not comply. On February 20, 1973 Heldt

 appeared at the Los Angeles IRS office and handed Cluberton a letter stating he

 had resigned as an officer of the California Church and therefore did not have

 control of its records. Notwithstanding his resignation, Heldt continued to

 exercise control over petitioner's financial records. By letter dated June 12,

 1973 he authorized the Crocker-Citizens National Bank to release certain bank

 statements to the bearer of the letter.

  On or about October 26, 1971, petitioner filed an informational return, Form

 990, for the taxable year 1970; on or about August 21, 1972, for 1971; and on

 or about October 12, 1973, for 1972. All three informational returns were

 prepared and signed by Martin Greenberg, certified public accountant. Reverend

 Mulligan as president co-signed the 1970 return; Craig Beeney as secretary and

 vice-president, respectively, co-signed the 1971 and 1972 returns. The returns

 were signed under penalty of perjury. They do not contain financial information

 for the United Kingdom Church of OTC.

  During and after the docketed years, petitioner's Guardian Offices in the

 United States and the United Kingdom planned and executed a scheme to

 infiltrate the IRS, seize records pertaining to Scientology-related tax matters

 pending before the IRS, and conceal petitioner's connection to these covert,

 illegal activities. During this period the highest ranking Guardian was Mary

 Sue Hubbard who held the position Commodore Staff Guardian. Jane Kember, the

 Guardian Worldwide, was just under her in rank. In the United States during the

 years 1970-1972, the highest ranking official in the *434 Guardian Office

 was Robert Thomas, the Deputy Guardian United States (DG US). His senior staff

 and their positions from 1970-1972 were as follows:



 James Mulligan .. Deputy Deputy Guardian [FN36]

 Joel Kreiner .... Deputy Guardian Legal

 Craig Beeney .... Deputy Guardian Technology

 Henning Heldt ... Deputy Guardian Finance

 Arthur Maren .... Deputy Guardian Public Relations

 Terry Milner .... Deputy Guardian Intelligence [FN37]



  Martin J. Greenberg, whose title was CPA US, was an adjunct of the United

 States Guardian Office during these years. He was petitioner's accountant.

 Henning Heldt reviewed his work. By the end of 1972 the USGO had 40 staff

 members. James Mulligan, Craig Beeney and Henning Heldt also served as officers

 and directors of petitioner during the docketed years. Their positions and

 dates of service were:



 James Mulligan .. Director and president

                    (Jan. 1, 1970--Sept. 3, 1973)

 Henning Heldt ... Director and vice president

                    (Feb. 23, 1971--Feb. 16, 1973)

 Craig Beeney .... Director and secretary

                    (Feb. 23, 1971--Apr. 13, 1973)



  In April 1972, petitioner's Guardian Office formulated a three-prong plan

 designed to stop what it perceived to be an IRS attack on Scientology. The plan

 was developed in response to several unfavorable tax rulings revoking the tax-

 exempt status of Churches of Scientology in the United States. The plan called

 for three separate intelligence operations: Operation Search and Destroy,

 Operation Random Harvest, and Operation Paris. The purpose of Operation Search

 and Destroy was to identify organizations and individuals furnishing

 information to the IRS and secure information about them covertly and overtly

 which could be used to discredit or 'Dead Agent' them. This plan appears to

 have been a continuation of an earlier program since the Intelligence Bureau of

 the Guardian Office was already in possession of files taken from

 organizations *435 providing information to the IRS. [FN38] Care was to be

 taken to prevent the Church of Scientology from being connected to the covert

 component of the operation.

  The purpose of Operation Random Harvest was to document criminal activity on

 the part of the IRS. The purpose of the third intelligence program, Operation

 Paris, was to identify IRS personnel handling Scientology tax matters and to

 investigate their backgrounds and activities. A segment of the plan called for

 recruiting a 'plant' to develop social and professional contacts with IRS

 personnel and develop a cover to hide his affiliation with the Church of

 Scientology. Significant information gleaned from Operation Paris was to be

 forwarded to the Intelligence Bureau of the Guardian Office. The Deputy

 Guardian Intelligence (DG Int US) was placed in charge of this project.

  The Guardian Office later developed another plan to infiltrate the IRS and

 appropriate documents. The plan is memorialized in Guardian Order 1361 dated

 October 21, 1974. The plan was developed in response to the IRS's continuing

 investigation of Scientology tax matters which petitioner viewed as an attack.

 Part of this investigation covered petitioner's tax returns for 1964-1969. The

 purpose of the plan was to root out damaging reports considered to be false in

 the IRS files so that the IRS would forget about Scientology and direct its

 attention elsewhere. The plan called for infiltrating IRS offices in Los

 Angeles, Washington, D.C., and London; stealing files on Scientology and L. Ron

 Hubbard; and developing a suitable cover story to disguise how the information

 was obtained. The Deputy Guardian Information, U.S. ('DG Info US') was in

 charge of implementing most of the plan.

  Pursuant to Guardian Order 1361, the IRS offices in Washington, D.C., were

 burglarized and documents relating to petitioner and other Scientology churches

 were taken and forwarded to petitioner's Guardian Office. At one point

 Scientology operatives had difficulty gaining access to IRS intelligence files.

 They tried to solve this problem by having petitioner's attorney, Joel Kreiner,

 a witness in this case, make a Freedom of Information request for these

 documents believing the request would lead the IRS to place the filed in a

 *436 central location for processing where they would be more accessible.

 Operatives gained inside information about the 1971-1974 audit by monitoring

 the offices of Lewis Hubbard and his assistant and then successor, Stephen

 Friedberg. Their offices were monitored over a period of several months while

 the 1971-1974 audit was in progress. At one point during this period,

 operatives reported they had gained access to all of the materials on

 Scientology kept in Lewis Hubbard's office including Chief Counsel's files.

 They also gained possession of Stephen Friedberg's handwritten daily notes

 which contained occasional references to the examiner's activities.

  On December 11, 1979 several ranking officials in petitioner's hierarchy were

 convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia of

 conspiracy to obstruct justice and to obstruct a criminal investigation in

 violation of 18 U.S.C. section 371. They were Mary Sue Hubbard, the

 Founder's wife and second in the executive chain-of-command during the docketed

 years; Henning Heldt, petitioner's vice-president and Deputy Guardian Finance

 during the docketed years; Duke Snider, petitioner's president from late 1975

 through May 10, 1976 and USGO official; Gregory Wilardson, a USGO intelligence

 official in the post-docketed years; and Richard Weigand, also a USGO

 intelligence official in the post-docketed years. On the same day Mitchell

 Hermann a/k/a Mike Cooper, a Guardian official employed by the Church of

 Scientology in the District of Columbia, was convicted of conspiring to steal

 Government documents including ones pertaining to the 1971-1974 audit. [FN39] A

 year later, on December 19, 1980, Jane Kember and Morris Budlong were convicted

 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia of

 burglarizing the Exempt Organizations Division of the National Office of the

 IRS on three occasions in 1976 while the 1971-1974 audit was in progress. Jane

 Kember, the Guardian Worldwide, was the highest ranking official in the United

 Kingdom Church during the docketed years. Morris Budlong was an official in the

 Guardian Office Worldwide in the post-docketed years.

  In the spring of 1975, Guardian Office personnel came aboard the Apollo and

 engaged in a project to falsify petitioner's *437 financial records. The

 project was undertaken in anticipation of an IRS audit.

  From June 1975 through July 1976 the IRS audited petitioner's records bearing

 on its 1971-1974 tax returns. Following the audit, petitioner prepared a Church

 audit report and maneuvered to have it serve as the operative statement of

 facts to accompany a request for technical advice. Thereafter petitioner and

 respondent entered into settlement negotiations which continued even after the

 notice of deficiency was issued.

  The California Church did not keep books or journals to record its financial

 transactions. The examiners, therefore, worked from original records--checks,

 disbursement vouchers and invoices. The California Church also gave the

 examiners tax workpapers for the years 1971 and 1972 in lieu of general ledgers

 or books of entry. During the course of the audit the examiners received over

 300 cartons of records containing by conservative estimate two million

 documents. The boxes were labeled by type of record and by year; for example,

 '1971 disbursement vouchers,' but the labels did not always correspond with the

 materials inside. The records were generally not in chronological order. The

 checks were detached from their stubs. It took three or four examiners from one

 to two weeks just to organize 49 boxes of records from the San Francisco

 Organization. The Church's workpapers were not always prepared in accordance

 with generally accepted accounting principles and were insufficient to

 establish the information the California Church was required to report on its

 returns.

  During the audit the examiners tried to fathom the relationship between

 petitioner and OTC. Several times they asked for canceled checks from the bank

 accounts OTS maintained on behalf of the California Church. They were told

 these might take several weeks to produce since foreign banks did not return

 cancelled checks as a matter of course. The California Church concealed from

 the examiners that it regularly received debit advices from the foreign banks

 in lieu of cancelled checks, and it never produced the cancelled checks. As a

 result, docketed-year disbursements totaling over $3 million from the Rubric

 General Account No. 295,728 on which L. Ron Hubbard was a signatory were never

 explained. The auditors made numerous requests for records to verify

 *438 that OTC expenditures claimed to be made on petitioner's behalf were

 actually expended on petitioner for an exempt purpose. The California Church

 did not comply with some of these requests. In one instance the California

 Church failed to substantiate a schedule of approximately 300 claimed

 expenditures. The schedule was pared down to 20 items. The IRS never received

 adequate documentation, e.g., cancelled checks or third party bills, to

 substantiate even these 20 items.

  During the audit and the ensuing negotiations, petitioner repeatedly

 represented that OTC was a separate corporation from petitioner. Petitioner

 represented that OTC was formed in 1968 to render financial services to the

 Flag Division aboard the Apollo. Petitioner represented that OTC was a trusted

 agent receiving and banking petitioner's funds and then expending them on

 petitioner's behalf to support Flag operations. Petitioner represented that OTC

 personnel performed these financial services. Petitioner further represented

 that at the start of the agency relationship force of circumstances led

 petitioner to deposit its funds in existing OTC bank accounts, a practice which

 continued through the taxable years in issue. Petitioner also represented that

 in 1972 over $2 million in cash belonging to OTC was transferred to the Apollo

 and kept in OTC's custody until the end of 1974 when it was credited to

 petitioner as partial payment of a debt OTC owed petitioner.

  All of these representations were false. OTC was in form, but not in fact, a

 separate entity from petitioner. Petitioner's personnel and not OTC personnel

 kept the OTC checkbooks, directed the flow of funds into and out of OTC

 accounts, receipted money for the support of Flag operations and controlled and

 managed Flag expenditures. The OTC bank accounts were in reality opened and

 maintained by petitioner. [FN40] Only petitioner's personnel were signatories

 on the accounts. [FN41] Mary Sue Hubbard and L. Ron Hubbard were sole

 *439 signatories on the accounts. The $2 million in cash that was brought to

 the Apollo in 1972 in reality belonged to petitioner and not OTC. The cash was

 withdrawn from a Swiss bank account upon L. Ron Hubbard's authority,

 transferred to the Apollo by Flag employees, and kept in a file cabinet in a

 strongroom to which only Mary Sue Hubbard had keys.

  Throughout most of th course of the conspiracy, the California Church

 knowingly concealed the status of the United Kingdom Church as an operating

 branch of petitioner. The Forms 990 filed by petitioner for the years 1970-1972

 did not consolidate or include the receipts, disbursements, assets or

 liabilities of the United Kingdom Church. Church submissions to the IRS made

 during the audit and intended to describe petitioner's corporate structure made

 no mention of the United Kingdom Church. Throughout the audit, petitioner's

 representatives referred to Scientology activities in the United Kingdom by

 such names as U.K. Church, U.K., United Kingdom Churches, Worldwide Church in

 England, and United Kingdom Scientology Organizations. They never used the

 term 'U.K. Branch' or 'Church of Scientology of California--U.K. Branch' or a

 term of like import although they did furnish some records which incidentally,

 e.g., in letterheads, disclosed the United Kingdom Church's corporate status.

 The Church audit report cast the United Kingdom Church as a separate corporate

 entity. An affidavit of petitioner's president dated November 9, 1980, in

 support of a motion to quash a subpoena to produce bank records from accounts

 maintained by the United Kingdom Church denied the accounts belonged to the

 California Church.

  A stipulation in this case filed November 10, 1980 listed seven of

 petitioner's divisions but did not include the United Kingdom Church. Prior to

 trial, petitioner's representatives once acknowledged a formal connection

 between the United Kingdom Church and the California Church while denying any

 more than a formal connection. In March 1975, during the audit of the Hawaii

 Church, petitioner's representative stated that the United Kingdom Church was

 incorporated as the Church of Scientology of California as a legal convenience

 but operated separately and independently.

  The United Kingdom Church had more than a nominal connection to petitioner. It

 lacked a bona fide board of *440 directors. Its franchise operations were

 controlled by Flag. Policy directives were issued jointly by the United Kingdom

 Church and the California Church for the board of directors of the California

 Church. United Kingdom Church officials and California Church officials could

 and did write checks on each others accounts. Petitioner's 'trust fund' was

 administered by the United Kingdom Church.

  Church officials knew the United Kingdom Church was only operating in the

 United Kingdom as a branch of petitioner. At practically the same time that the

 California Church's representatives in the United States were portraying the

 United Kingdom Church as a separate and independent entity, petitioner's

 representatives in the United Kingdom were filing documents with the Registrar

 of Companies in Great Britain, referring to the United Kingdom Church as the

 'Church of Scientology of California--U.K. Branch' and stating that the United

 Kingdom Church 'was not resident in the United Kingdom during the above

 year(s) (1967, 1968, 1970)' and was 'not a 'Close' Company within the meaning

 of Schedule 18 Finance Act of 1965.' Petitioner's United Kingdom accountant,

 Derek Field, who prepared and reviewed these documents, testified that the

 statement was intended to reflect the fact that the United Kingdom Church was

 not present in the United Kingdom as an entity. It was only present as a branch

 of the California Church.

                                    EVIDENCE

  On July 8, 1977 (and past midnight into July 9, 1977) FBI agents executed a

 search warrant at petitioner's premises known as the Cedars-Sinai Complex in

 Los Angeles. The search warrant was based on a 33-page sworn affidavit signed

 by FBI Special Agent Robert Tittle describing the Government's investigation of

 charges that Scientology officials from 1974 through 1976 conspired to steal

 documents belonging to the Federal Government and conspired to obstruct justice

 by covering up these crimes during a grand jury investigation of a burglary of

 the office of an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States

 Courthouse in Washington, D.C. The search warrant specified 162 categories of

 items to be seized. Category 162 called for seizure of:

   *441 Any and all fruits, instrumentalities, and evidence (at this time

 unknown) of the crimes of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and theft of

 government property in violation of 18 U.S. code secs. 371, 1503 and 641

 which facts recited in the accompanying affidavit make out.

  During the search FBI agents seized a document identified as Exhibit FX in

 this case from a file cabinet in petitioner's Guardian Office. The FBI agent

 who seized the document did not testify.

  Exhibit FU in the instant case is a folder containing Guardian Order 1361

 dated October 21, 1974 and a number of reports discussing compliance with the

 Guardian Order. [FN42] Guardian Order 1361 is a 9-page plan to derail

 governmental challenges to the tax-exempt status of Scientology churches

 including petitioner. Petitioner stipulated that Guardian Order 1361 in Exhibit

 FU was prepared by petitioner's United States Guardian Office in 1974.

 Petitioner did not stipulate to the authenticity of the remaining documents in

 Exhibit FU. However, when the exhibit was moved into evidence some 6 months

 after it was first the subject of testimony, petitioner's only continuing

 objection was that the documents were the product of an illegal search and

 seizure.

  Guardian Order 1361 calls for infiltrating the IRS and the Department of

 Justice, stealing documents from IRS offices in London, Los Angeles and

 Washington, D.C. and the Tax Division of the Department of Justice and passing

 information culled from these documents on to the Deputy Guardians for

 Information, Legal, and Public Relations at petitioner's Guardian Offices in

 the United States and Great Britain. The contents of most the remaining

 documents in Exhibit FU bear on compliance with Guardian Order 1361. Some are

 progress reports. Some convey strategic information about *442 Government

 offices targeted for burglary. Some refer to Guardian Order 1361 on their face.

 Some show on their face that they were sent to a person in petitioner's United

 States Guardian Office. One document is a job-posting for a position as clerk-

 typist at the IRS.

  Stephen C. McKellar, a criminal investigator in the Internal Security Division

 of the IRS, testified about the circumstances by which the IRS came into

 possession of the documents comprising Exhibit FU. His investigative report of

 these circumstances was also placed in evidence.

  Agent McKellar first saw the typewriter-case documents on February 8, 1978. On

 that date Alvin Jones, an attorney, came to his office in Los Angeles carrying

 a black, metal typewriter case full of documents in file folders. The

 typewriter case had no markings on it except the letters 'SMC' for SMith-Corona

 Corporation. Agent McKellar testified that Jones explained that sometime in

 July 1977 one of his clients found the typewriter case by itself in a Sears

 store parking lot located on Santa Monica Boulevard and Wilton Place in Los

 Angeles. Agent McKeller's report amplifies this testimony somewhat and states

 that Jones explained to McKellar that his client saw an unidentified man leave

 the typewriter case in the parking lot unattended and that his client picked it

 up when the man failed to return after a short while. Agent McKellar testified

 that Jones told him he believed the documents would be of some value to the IRS

 since they described information about a burglary of IRS offices in Washington,

 D.C. The report further amplifies this point explaining that Jones told

 McKellar the documents related to break-ins of IRS offices for the purpose of

 reviewing records concerning the Church of Scientology.

  Agent McKellar did not get a search warrant before opening the typewriter case

 and examining its contents. When he opened it he had some belief it contained

 evidence of a crime.

  The audit of petitioner's 1971-1974 taxable years began in June 1975 and

 lasted through July 1976. Respondent's examining agents had no authority to

 conduct settlement negotiations during the audit.

  The documents in exhibits DU and HG constitute some of petitioner's

 correspondence with the IRS. The documents fall into one of three categories.

 The majority of the documents are petitioner's responses to formal requests for

 information from *443 the IRS during the audit. [FN43] These documents are

 identified by the fact they have at least two of the following features: (1)

 they are addressed to an examiner and bear a date corresponding to the audit

 period; (2) they are captioned by or contain an internal reference to a

 specific IRS request for information; (3) their content clearly relates to a

 specific request for information. Exhibit DU also contains some of petitioner's

 correspondence with the IRS unrelated to information sought by the examiners.

 [FN44] These documents bear a date subsequent to July 31, 1976 and are

 addressed to Mr. William Connett, Mr. Alvin Lurie or Mr. Joseph Tedesco of the

 IRS. There are also a few miscellaneous documents in Exhibit DU which cannot

 with certainty be categorized as petitioner's responses to requests for

 information from the IRS. [FN45]

                                     OPINION

  This is a complicated case both legally and factually--witness the long list

 of issues presented for resolution and the lengthy findings of fact we have had

 to make. We, therefore, think it is wise to announce our holdings at the outset

 hoping this will help the reader's understanding. We hold that petitioner does

 not qualify for exemption from taxation under sections 501(a) and 501(c)(3)

 because it is operated for a substantial commercial purpose and because its net

 earnings benefit L. Ron Hubbard, his family, and OTC, a private noncharitable

 corporation controlled by key Scientology officials. Additionally, we hold that

 petitioner is not entitled to tax-exempt status because it has violated well-

 defined standards of public policy by conspiring to prevent the IRS from

 assessing and collecting taxes due from petitioner and affiliated Scientology

 churches. We further uphold the determinations respondent has made in his

 notice of deficiency except his determination that petitioner received income

 from the United Kingdom Church. Finally, we find that petitioner's failure to

 file tax returns was without reasonable cause and *444 that respondent

 therefore properly determined an addition to tax.

  We have divided this opinion into eight sections, each of them announced by a

 Roman numeral. The fist section deals with petitioner's challenges to the

 notice of deficiency (questions 1 and 2). The second section treats

 petitioner's objections to the constitutionality of the express conditions of

 section 501(c)(3). However, it does not treat petitioner's attack on the

 constitutionality of public policy requirements which have been read into

 section 501(c)(3). See Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574,

 103 S.Ct. 2017 (1983). In view of our holding that petitioner fails to qualify

 for exemption under the express conditions of section 501(c)(3), i.e., the

 provisions prohibiting commercialism and inurement, our holding that petitioner

 is not entitled to exemption because it has violated public policy is simply an

 additional ground of decision. We, therefore, reserve treatment of the public

 policy aspects of this case to a separate section. There is one minor

 exception. The second section does include treatment of petitioner's contention

 that the public policy requirement is unduly vague. In sum, the second section

 covers questions 3 through 10 on the list of issues presented. Midway through

 the trial, respondent raised a new issue. Respondent presented evidence that

 the United Kingdom Church is a branch of petitioner. The third section of this

 opinion considers the legal issues generated by respondent's claim that the

 United Kingdom Church is a branch church (question 13). The fourth and fifth

 sections deal with the Church's financial operations (questions 14 and 15).

 Section four elucidates our holding that the Church's activities evidence a

 substantial commercial purpose and section five, our holding that the Church's

 earnings inure to the benefit of private individuals. Section six treats the

 public policy issues raised in this case (questions 11, 12, and 16). There are

 three of them: (1) whether petitioner has, in fact, violated public policy; (2)

 whether requiring petitioner to comport with public policy intrudes on the

 Church's associational and free exercise rights protected by the First

 Amendment; and (3) whether petitioner is deprived of due process by the

 retroactive imposition of a public policy requirement. The seventh section

 treats a number of evidentiary issues raised in this case and the

 *445 eighth and last section deals with petitioner's tax liability as

 reflected in the notice of deficiency (questions 17 and 18).

                                       I.

  Petitioner mounts two attacks on the notice of deficiency. First, petitioner

 alleges that it is invalid for a number of administrative reasons and second,

 petitioner alleges that it is invalid because of constitutional consideration.

 The main thrust of petitioner's first argument is that respondent never issued

 a final letter of revocation or, if he did, he later nullified it and therefore

 the notice of deficiency is null and void since an exempt organization cannot

 owe taxes. Petitioner relies on A. Duda & Sons Cooperative Ass'n v. United

 States, 504 F.2d 970, 973 (5th Cir. 1974), stating that respondent could not

 assess taxes against a tax-exempt cooperative where it stipulated the

 revocation was void.

  We think petitioner misinterprets the administrative record and misreads the

 Duda case. On July 18, 1967, respondent formally revoked petitioner's tax-

 exempt status and subsequently published an announcement of the revocation in

 the Internal Revenue Bulletin and removed petitioner's name from its cumulative

 list of charitable organizations. None of respondent's actions subsequent to

 the revocation show, as petitioner claims, that the revocation was either

 tentative or later nullified. Admittedly respondent made no unflinching effort

 to collect taxes from petitioner prior to the taxable years at issue in this

 case and continued in subsequent audits to review petitioner's tax status, but

 we decline to agree with petitioner that these actions either nullify the

 revocation or detract from its finality.

  Petitioner argues that respondent's disposition of its 1965-1967 taxable years

 voided the letter of revocation issued on July 18, 1967. In 1974 respondent

 issued a notice of deficiency to petitioner for the taxable years 1965-1967.

 The deficiencies were comparatively small ranging from slightly over $2,500 to

 slightly under $14,000. Petitioner contested the 1965 but not the other

 deficiencies in the Tax Court. In late 1976, respondent settled the 1965 case

 by conceding petitioner's tax-exempt status for that year only and without

 prejudice to any other year and closed the other two years on the basis of 'no

 change.'

  *446 Petitioner's contention that respondent's disposition of its 1965-1967

 taxable years amounts to a nullification of the letter of revocation stretches

 the facts far beyond their reasonable interpretation. By late 1976 respondent

 had concluded the 1971-1974 audit. This audit revealed potential income tax

 liability in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Respondent may well have

 decided not to pursue the comparatively small deficiencies of the earlier years

 in order to marshall his resources to collect the potentially greater

 deficiencies of the later years. The settlement entered in the Tax Court on its

 fact only applied to 1965, and the closing of the 1966 and 1967 taxable years

 on the basis of 'no change' in context marks a concession of tax liability only

 and is without bearing on petitioner's tax status. [FN46] That respondent in

 post-revocation audits to determine petitioner's tax liability also reviewed

 petitioner's tax status is also not significant. More or less the same records

 have to be examined in either type of audit. Since the double issue review

 required virtually no extra work, respondent's reconsideration of petitioner's

 tax status shows nothing more than a desire to check for prior error. It is

 noteworthy that after performing these post-revocation audits respondent never

 changed his ruling. [FN47]

  This case is also readily distinguished from the Duda case. In that case the

 Government, in a pretrial conference, stipulated that it had revoked the

 taxpayer-cooperative's tax exemption for the wrong reasons and also stipulated

 that the revocation was not based on the taxpayer's failure to act as a

 cooperative. 504 F.2d at 973. The Government wanted to be relieved of these

 stipulations so it could collect taxes on the basis of the taxpayer's failure

 to act as a cooperative. 504 F.2d at 975. The court held that the government

 could not be relieved of its disastrous concessions and allowed to show that

 the revocation was not a nullity. 504 F.2d at 975-976. In comparison

 respondent in the case at bar has consistently maintained that petitioner was

 not operating for exempt purposes. This was communicated in the letter revoking

 *447 petitioner's exempt status and in the notice of deficiency. As a

 general rule the notice of deficiency is presumed to be correct, Rule 142;

 [FN48] Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 115 (1933), and the Court will not

 look behind it. Riland v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. 185 (1982); Greenberg's

 Express Inc. v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. 185 (1982); Greenberg's Express Inc.

 v. Commissioner, 62 T.C. 324 (1974); Suarez v. Commissioner, 58 T.C. 792

 (1972), overruled on other grounds, United States v. Janis, 428 U.S. 433

 (1976). This is true even where the record discloses procedural irregularities.

 Cataldo v. Commissioner, 499 F.2d 550 (2d Cir. 1974), affg. per curiam 60

 T.C 522 (1973); Rosenberg v. Commissioner, 450 F.2d 529 (10th cir. 1971).

 Petitioner has not shown any serious procedural irregularity in the way

 respondent handled its case much less action rising to the level of a

 nullification of the 1967 determination that it did not qualify for exemption

 from taxation.

  Petitioner also challenges the notice of deficiency and the letter of

 revocation on constitutional grounds. The gravamen of petitioner's complaint is

 that respondent selectively enforced the tax laws against petitioner, revoking

 the Church's exemption form taxation and determining a deficiency because of

 hostility to Scientology in violation of the equal protection component of the

 Fifth Amendment and the First Amendment. [FN49] In support of its argument,

 petitioner makes a number of factual allegations. Most of them boil down to one

 of three points. First, respondent's files are suffused with correspondence and

 memoranda denouncing Scientology. Second, special intelligence groups within

 the IRS charged with investigating politically active organizations targeted

 petitioner and affiliated churches for surveillance. Third, respondent

 arbitrarily and capriciously handled numerous Scientology tax matters pending

 in the IRS.

  Ordinarily, this Court will not look behind the notice of deficiency to

 examine respondent's motives, policies or procedures in making his

 determinations. Suarez v. Commissioner, supra at 813; Greenberg's Express

 Inc. v. Commissioner, supra at 327. However, this Court has recognized a

 limited exception to this rule which appertains here. When there is substantial

 *448 evidence of unconstitutional conduct on respondent's part and the

 integrity of our judicial process would be impeded were we to let respondent

 benefit from it, this Court will examine respondent's conduct in reaching a

 determination. Greenberg's Express Inc. v. Commissioner, supra at 328;

 Suarez v. Commissioner, supra. We believe that the evidence supporting

 petitioner's accusations raises sufficient doubts about the constitutionality

 of respondent's conduct that judicial scrutiny of his actions is required to

 prevent our system from becoming an instrument of selective enforcement of the

 tax laws.

  There are two components to petitioner's religious hostility argument, one

 involving equal protection and the other, free exercise considerations.

 Petitioner makes the equal protection claim that it has been singled out for

 enforcement because of its unpopular religious views and practices. Petitioner

 also claims respondent violated its First Amendment rights because respondent's

 adverse determinations were motivated by its dislike for the Church's

 unorthodoxy.

  We first consider petitioner's selective enforcement argument. It is by now

 well established that equal protection requires that laws fair on their face be

 impartially executed, Yick Wo. v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, 373-374 (1886), and

 that discriminations based on hostility to a group's religion are

 constitutionally intolerable. Niemotko v. Maryland, 340 U.S. 268 (1951).

 However, 'the conscious exercise of some selectivity in enforcement is not in

 itself a federal constitutional violation,' Oyler v. Boles, 368 U.S. 448,

 456 (1962), and is even necessary, particularly, '(i)n the tax field, with

 million of returns, and many thousand that reveal some basis for further

 investigation.' United States v. Wilson, 639 F.2d 500, 505 (9th Cir. 1981).

 In the criminal field, a case of selective prosecution is made out when the

 defendant shows: (1) the decision to prosecute was based on impermissible

 grounds such as race, religion or the exercise of constitutional rights; and

 (2) that other similarly situated are generally not prosecuted. Karme v.

 Commissioner, 673 F.2d 1062, 1064 (9th Cir. 1982), affg. 73 T.C. 1163

 (1980); United States v. Ness, 652 F.2d 890, 892 (9th Cir.), cert. denied

 454 U.S. 1126 (1981); United States v. Moon, 718 F.2d 1210 (2d Cir.

 1983), cert. denied 466 U.S.__, 104 S.Ct. 2344 (1984). Like the Ninth

 Circuit, which has appellate jurisdiction of this case, we express our concern

 that examining the IRS's actions *449 here under the standard applied in

 criminal cases may be too stringent a test. Karme v. Commissioner, supra at

 1064. However, we need not decide this issue since petitioner's argument fails

 under both prongs of the criminal test.

  Petitioner makes a number of factual allegations--some well founded, some

 exaggerated and some completely unsupported. Petitioner did demonstrate that

 respondent's files contain memoranda and correspondence denigrating

 Scientology. During the period in which petitioner's tax-exemption was under

 active consideration, a few of respondent's agents called Scientology a

 'medical quackery'; a 'threat to the community, medically, morally and

 socially'; a 'prey on the public pocketbook'; and similar epithets. These

 comments mostly sprang from persons in respondent's Refund Litigation Division,

 then assisting the Department of Justice in defending the Founding Church

 refund tax case. However, agents in respondent's Exempt Organizations Division

 charged with reviewing petitioner's tax status were privy to them. These

 comments were the remarks of individuals. There is not evidence respondent

 adopted them. However, some derogatory statements about Scientology are clearly

 attributable to respondent. In his Trial Memorandum respondent stated that he

 intended to prove petitioner violated charitable law standards of public policy

 by the infliction of psychic harm including the loss or moral judgment through

 brainwashing accomplished by auditing and other practices and procedures. In

 correspondence sent to this Court, respondent called the Church a 'cult,' once

 again referred to the Church's 'brainwashing' methods, and characterized the

 Church's policies and practices as a danger to the moral and physical health of

 citizens and responsible for trouble in families. None of these charges were

 proved although this Court's rulings did not preclude respondent from showing

 Church policies and practices violated civil or criminal law.

  Between 1969 and 1975, respondent formed and maintained three special

 intelligence units. These units collected information about taxpayers selected

 by essentially political criteria ostensibly to monitor their compliance with

 the tax laws. All three units collected information about petitioner. In

 October 1969 one of these intelligence units, the SSS, added the Founding

 Church to a list of 99 organizations selected for *450 investigation. Other

 groups selected at the same time included the Black United Front, the New Left

 Movement and the Welfare Rights Organization. After the Founding Church was

 selected, the SSS received some information from respondent's district offices

 about Scientology churches. Virtually all of it concerned matters pertinent to

 the tax status of these churches. The Case Development Unit, a local

 intelligence unit operating out of respondent's Los Angeles district office,

 also collected information about the California Church and Scientology. Most of

 the information pertained to financial, religious, or charitable matters. A few

 reports linked petitioner or Scientology to criminal activity. A third

 intelligence group, the IGRU, established in 1973 had chapters in respondent's

 district offices. Intelligence reports in respondent's Los Angeles district

 files connected petitioner with tax protest activity. Perhaps based on these

 reports, the Los Angeles IGRU chapter classified petitioner as a tax resister.

 Files from the St. Louis IGRU unit were destroyed in 1975. One such file

 labeled 'subversives' contained material only about Scientology.

  Counterbalancing these facts evidencing respondent's political and religious

 hostility to petitioner is the record of petitioner's actual treatment by the

 IRS. The decision to revoke petitioner's exemption was based upon legitimate

 agency concerns. The decision was made after respondent examined petitioner's

 1964 and 1965 information returns and following local and national protest

 conferences. [FN50] It was based on findings that the Church's activities were

 akin to a business, that it was serving the private interests of its members

 and not the public, and that its income inured to the benefit of Scientology

 practitioners. Thus both the procedures for the grounds of revocation were

 based upon the valid exercise of agency authority.

  Petitioner's contention that its revocation was rushed through agency channels

 as part of a wholesale effort to take away the tax-exempt status of Scientology

 churches is not borne out. First, the revocation was not rushed. While we do

 not know exactly when the audit of petitioner's 1964 and 1965 informational

 returns took place, we surmise that the examination *451 must have taken

 place in the first half of 1966 since by July 29, 1966 respondent had sent

 petitioner a letter stating proposed grounds for the revocation. The formal

 letter of revocation was issued on July 18, 1967. Thus, the deliberations

 leading to the revocation, far from being rushed, stretched out, at least, over

 the course of a year. Second, petitioner's loss of exemption was not part of a

 wholesale scheme. Admittedly, respondent examined several other Scientology

 churches during this period. These reviews were prompted by a request from the

 Department of Justice which was then defending a tax refund case against the

 Founding Church. The Founding church was denied exempt status on the grounds

 that it was organized and operated as a profit-making venture benefiting

 private interests and not serving religious or educational purposes. The

 Department of Justice in October of 1966 asked respondent to investigate

 affiliated churches holding tax-exempt status and report on ways they could be

 distinguished or rescind their exemptions if they could not. Respondent acted

 on this request and investigated several Scientology churches. In some cases

 denial or revocation of exemption was recommended. However, no other church

 besides petitioner appears to have lost its exemption during this period.

  Between 1967 and 1974 respondent delayed action or changed positions on

 several matters involving Scientology churches. Respondent also issued Manual

 Supplement 42G-228. The manual established guidelines and procedures for

 identifying and examining Scientology churches and processing applications for

 exemption. The record disclosed no nefarious motive for respondent's

 indecisiveness and we think respondent's hesitancy in rushing toward litigation

 was justified by the sensitivity and, in some cases, novelty of the issues

 involved. As for the Manual Supplement, a panel of the Ninth Circuit has

 already commented on this document saying that, in view of the Court of Claims

 decision upholding respondent's deficiency determination in the Founding Church

 case, the IRS might be remiss were it not to give special scrutiny to

 Scientology organizations. Compare United States v. Church of Scientology of

 California, 520 F.2d 818, 823 (9th cir. 1975), with Church of Scientology of

 Hawaii v. United States, 485 F.2d 818, 823 (9th Cir. 1975), with Church of

 Scientology of Hawaii v. United States, 485 F.2d 313, 317 (9th Cir. 1973).

  *452 The deficiency determination was based on facts learned during an

 extensive audit of petitioner's records. Good-faith negotiations preceded the

 issuance of the notice of deficiency. Petitioner's contention that respondent's

 conditions of settlement were arbitrary or unconstitutional is not well taken.

 Certainly respondent was well within his authority to insist that petitioner's

 income could not inure to the benefit of OTC, a private for-profit corporation.

 Sec. 501(c)(3); sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(1)(ii), Income Tax Regs. Respondent could

 also require petitioner to file returns and keep records. Sec. 6001. Only

 exempt churches are relieved of these obligations, sec. 6033(a)(2)(A)(i), and

 respondent was never willing to recognize unconditionally petitioner's exempt

 status. Rather, respondent's only offer of recognition was limited to

 petitioner's 1970-1972 taxable years. Respondent was also well within his

 authority to demand that petitioner disavow participation in the crimes

 described in the Tittle affidavit. The First Amendment does not shield a church

 from the constraints of the criminal law, Late Corporation of the Church of

 Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States, 136 U.S. 1 (1890), and

 the Government through respondent could insist its largesse not subsidize

 criminal activity. Regan v. Taxation with Representation of Washington, 461

 U.S. 461 U.S. 540, 103 S.Ct. 1997, 2002-2003 (1983); Bob Jones University v.

 United States, 461 U.S. 574, 103 S.Ct. 2017, 2028-2029, 2032 (1983);

 Oklahoma v. Civil Service Commission, 330 U.S. 127 (1947).

  Weighing all these facts, we find that petitioner's contention that respondent

 selectively enforced the tax laws against the California Church out of

 religious or political animosity falls short of the mark. On the one hand,

 petitioner was investigated by special intelligence groups formed to collect

 information about organizations selected for ideological reasons rather than

 tax considerations. Also respondent, perhaps sometimes using a trial lawyer's

 hyperbole, denigrated the practice of auditing and made other mostly unproven

 charges about petitioner's harmful policies and practices. Weighed against

 these facts is the almost flawless record of respondent's actual treatment of

 petitioner's tax status and liability. The decision to revoke petitioner's

 exemption, the detailed and extensive audits of its records, the lengthy post-

 audit settlement negotiations carried on in good faith and the final issuance

 of the *453 notice of deficiency were all valid exercises of administrative

 authority. We are also mindful that some of respondent's expressed hostility to

 petitioner's practices is attributable to petitioner's proven efforts to thwart

 respondent's duty to administer the tax laws.

  Petitioner has also failed to meet the second prong of the criminal selective

 enforcement test. It has failed to demonstrate that respondent has not enforced

 the provisions of section 501(c)(3) against others similarly situated, Karme v.

 Commissioner, supra at 1064. Nor could petitioner meet this test. The cases

 in this Court alone are ample evidence of respondent's vigorous enforcement

 policy against churches which overreach the conditions of their exemption. See

 Bethel Conservative Mennonite Church v. Commissioner, 80 T.C. 352 (1983);

 Ecclesiastical Order of ISM of AM, Inc. v. Commissioner, 80 T.C. 833 (1983);

 Church of the Transfiguring Spirit v. Commissioner, 76 T.C. 1 (1981); People

 of God Community v. Commissioner, 75 T.C. 127 (1980); Basis Bible Church v.

 Commissioner, 74 T.C. 846 (1980); Unitary Mission Church v. Commissioner,

 74 T.C. 507 (1980), affd. in an unpublished opinion 647 F.2d 163 (2d Cir.

 1981); Bubbling Well Church of Universal Love, Inc. v. Commissioner, 74 T.C.

 531 (1980), affd. 670 F.2d 104 (9th Cir. 1981). For cases in other courts,

 see Founding Church of Scientology v. United States, 188 Ct. Cl. 490, 412

 F.2d 1197 (1969), cert. denied 397 U.S. 1009 (1970); Universal Life Church

 v. United States, 372 F.Supp. 770 (E.D. Calif. 1974).

  Petitioner attempts to take itself out of the simple category of churches by

 claiming it is the only hierarchical church to have been selected and the only

 church denied exemption on public policy grounds. It is always possible to

 define the relevant class so narrowly that all others are eliminated. We

 believe the operative class to be churches or the even broader category,

 religious organizations. These are the classes employed by the Code. See

 sections 501(c)(3), 6033(a)(2)(A)(i), 6033(a)(2)(C)(i) and 7605(c). We see no

 reason under the circumstances to ignore the legislative classification.

 Furthermore, respondent is well within his rights to mount a test case

 challenging a church's tax-exempt status on public policy grounds. Such action

 does not constitute discriminatory enforcement. *454 Mackay Telegraph &

 Cable Co. v. City of Little Rock, 250 U.S. 94, 100 (1919).

  Petitioner repeats its same argument, that respondent revoked its tax-exempt

 status and issued a notice of deficiency out of hostility to its religion,

 under the First Amendment. The First Amendment, however, offers petitioner no

 more protection that the Fifth Amendment. Thus, petitioner is not entitled to

 redress even though conduct violative of the First Amendment is a substantial

 factor behind adverse governmental action where the Government shows by a

 preponderance of the evidence that it would have made the same determinations

 without resort to unconstitutional considerations. Givhan v. Western Line

 Consolidated School District, 439 U.S. 520, 526-417 (1979); Mt. Healthy City

 Board of Education v. Doyle, 429 U.S. 274, 287 (1977); Lee v. Russell County

 Board of Education, 684 F.2d 769 (11th Cir. 1982). We recognize that the

 cited cases are employment cases involving the firing of untenured teachers who

 have spoken out on political issues. However, we believe the rationale of these

 cases is fully applicable here. A person whose constitutional rights have been

 violated should not be placed in a better position than he would have been in

 had his rights not been violated. The proper remedy is to remove the taint. Mt.

 Healthy City Board of Education v. Doyle, supra at 286-287. Cf. Duren v.

 Missouri, 439 U.S. 357, 368 n. 26 (1979); Village of Arlington Heights v.

 Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 270-271 n. 21 (1977);

 Knoetze v. United States, 472 F. Supp. 201, 214-215 (S.D. Fla. 2979), affd.

 634 f. 2d 207 (5th Cir.), cert. denied 454 U.S. 823 (1981). Here, a

 healthy preponderance of the evidence shows that Service audits of the Church's

 records revealed petitioner had a substantial commercial purpose and had net

 earnings which inured to the benefit of a private corporation controlled by key

 Scientology officials. These are both valid statutory grounds for determining a

 deficiency. They overcome any taint that this case was prosecuted out of

 hostility to Scientology.

                                       II.

  Petitioner raises a number of challenges to the constitutionality of section

 501(c)(3). This section of the Code is one of *455 several sections which

 describe entities exempt from taxation under section 501(a). In pertinent part,

 section 501(c)(3) states:

   Corporations * * * organized and operated exclusively for religious * * *

 purposes * * * no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of

 any private shareholder or individual. * * *

  The inurement restriction has received a narrow construction. While allowing

 reasonable expenses as deductions against gross earnings, University of

 Massachusetts Medical School Group Practice v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 1299,

 1306 (1980); Saint Germain Foundation v. Commissioner, 26 T.C. 648, 659

 (1956), courts have held that any money or benefits flowing to private persons

 which are not ordinary and necessary business expences, no matter what the

 amount, constitute inurement, Unitary Mission Church v. Commissioner, 74

 T.C. 507, 513 (1980), affd. without published opinion 647 F. 2d 163 (2d Cir.

 1981); Founding Church of Scientology v. United States, 188 Ct. Cl. 490,

 500, 412 F. 2d 1197, 1202 (1969), cert. denied 397 U.S. 1009 (1970). The

 'exclusively religious purpose' restriction, on the other hand, has not been

 literally construed. A religious organization can have incidental nonreligious

 purposes and still maintain its exempt status. However, if from its activities

 it can be inferred that the organization has a substantial commercial purpose,

 it is ineligible for exemption. Sec. 1.501 (c)(3) - 1 (c), Income Tax Regs.

 Christian Manner International v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 661, 668 (1979);

 Pulpit Resource v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. 594, 602 (1978). In addition to

 meeting these express statutory conditions, this Court has ruled that section

 501(c)(3) impliedly requires petitioner to comply with fundamental standards of

 public policy derived from charitable trust law. Petitioner has mounted a

 broadside attack on the constitutionality of these express and implied

 conditions. This section treats petitioner's constitutional objections to the

 express conditions of section 501(c)(3) reserving to another section

 petitioner's constitutional objections to the public policy requirement which

 has been read into the statute.

  We first consider petitioner's challenges to the express statutory conditions

 of section 501(c)(3) based on the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.

 Petitioner raises three claims of unconstitutionality. Reaching the question

 left open in Walz v. Tax Commission, 397 U.S. 664 (1970), petitioner *456

 first claims that the requirement of governmental neutrality toward religion

 mandated by the joint provisions of the free exercise and establishment clauses

 constitutionally compels an exemption from taxation for 'religious income.'

 [FN51] Petitioner next argues that, even if an exemption for 'religious income'

 is not constitutionally compelled, nevertheless the lack of an exemption

 interferes with the free exercise of religion and is not justified by a

 compelling governmental interest. Thirdly, petitioner argues that section

 501(c)(3) is overbroad because it penalizes commercial activity in aid of

 religion that is affirmatively protected by the free exercise clause.

  At the outset, we note there is some tension in the case law concerning the

 standard of review applicable to questions involving tax exemptions for

 preferred activities. The tension springs from the fact that tax exemptions are

 generally classified as acts of legislative grace not subject to judicial

 review unless arbitrary. Commissioner v. Sullivan, 356 U.S. 27 (1958);

 Christian Echoes National Ministry, Inc. v. United States, 470 F. 2d 849,

 857 (10th Cir. 1972), cert. denied 414 U.S. 864 (1973); Parker v.

 Commissioner, 365 F. 2d 792, 795 (8th Cir. 1966), cert. denied 385 U.S.

 1026 (1967), affg. this point Foundation for Divine Meditation, Inc. v.

 commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1965-77. Augmenting this line of cases is another

 line holding that the Government has no obligation to subsidize preferred

 activities, Regan v. Taxation With representation of Washington, 461 U.S.

 540, 103 S.Ct. 1997, 2001 (1983); Harris v. McRae, 448 U.S. 297, 316-318

 (1980); Maher v. Roe, 432 U.S. 464 (1977); Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1,

 93-108 (1976); Cammarano v. United States, 358 U.S. 498, 513 (1959), and

 declining to scrutinize strictly claims of unequal distribution of government

 largesse. Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington, 103 S.Ct. at

 2003; Buckley v. Valeo, supra at 93-108. On the other hand, another line of

 cases holds that the Government cannot put conditions on benefits which dampen

 the exercise of First Amendment rights, McDaniel v. Paty, 435 U.S. 618

 (1978); Elrod v. Burns, 427 U.S. 347, 358 n. 11 (1976); Pickering v. Board

 of Education, 391 U.S. 563 (1968), and the claim of chill *457 has

 triggered strict judicial scrutiny, Bob Jones University v. United States,

 461 U.S. 574, 103 S. Ct. 2017, 2035 (1983); Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S.

 398 (1963). [FN52]

  Under the lesser standard of review, one which measures the statute by its

 reasonableness, section 501(c)(3) clearly does not interfere with the free

 exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment. Under the express terms

 of the statute as construed, a religious organization does not have to pay

 taxes provided it is not operated for private benefit or profit. The

 justification for the grant of tax exemption to charitable organizations, as a

 group, is that such entities confer a public benefit. Bob Jones University v.

 United States, 103 S.Ct. at 2028. They foster the mental, moral, and

 physical improvement of society. Walz v. Tax Commission, 397 U.S. 664, 672

 (1970). There is an additional justification for granting religious

 organizations tax exemption. The grant of exemption guards against potential

 acts of hostility to religion in the form of oppressive taxing measures. Walz

 v. Tax Commission, supra at 673. However, when a religious organization

 loses track of its charitable mission and conducts its operations for profit or

 private gain the reasons for the exemption are dispelled. The organization no

 longer serves the public benefit. Also, in such circumstances, it is reasonable

 for the legislature to conclude that the exemption helps line the pockets of a

 chosen few rather than guards against harm to religious freedom.

  We believe that some, but not all, of petitioner's free exercise challenges to

 the constitutionality of the express conditions of section 501(c)(3) merit

 strict scrutiny. Strict scrutiny is not automatically triggered just because

 petitioner is a church. Petitioner must show that one of its fundamental rights

 protected by the free exercise clause is endangered by the statute. Regan v.

 Taxation With Representation of Washington, supra. Petitioner posits

 statutory interference with three rights: (1) the right to tax-free religious

 income, (2) the *458 right to carry on church-sponsored commercial activity,

 and (3) the right to practice its belief in the doctrine of exchange. Only the

 last claim involves a fundamental right. Petitioner has no constitutional right

 under the religion clauses to tax-free religious income. The activities

 shielded by the First Amendment from Government interference--free speech, free

 press, free exercise--share a common preferred position in our constitutional

 scheme. Just as the press is not free from general economic regulation,

 Minneapolis Star and Tribune Company v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue,

 460 U.S. 575, 103 S. Ct. 1365, 1369-1370 (1983), and is apparently subject

 to an ordinary tax, Grosjean v. American Press Co., 297 U.S. 233, 250

 (1936), so, too, the free exercise clause does not immunize the income derived

 from religious activity from taxation. The free exercise clause takes the first

 step and protects religious beliefs and practices from governmental

 interference. It does not go a second step and require the Government to

 subsidize religion. Follett v. McCornick, 321 U.S. 573, 577-578 (1944);

 People v. Life Science Church, 450 N.Y.S. 2d 664, 669 (Sup. Ct. 1982);

 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc. v. County of Los Angeles, 30 Cal.

 2d 426, 182 P. 2d 178, cert. denied, 332 U.S. 811 (1947). See also Regan v.

 Taxation With Representation of Washington, 103 S.Ct. at 2001. The

 establishment clause likewise does not compel a religious exemption from

 taxation or, at the very least, allows Congress to interpret the course of :

 benevolent neutrality' demanded by the religion clauses. Walz v. Tax

 Commission, supra at 669; cf. Meuller v. Allen, 463 U.S. ___, 103 S.Ct.

 3062, 3067 (1983); United States v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252, 260-261 (1982). A

 compulsory subsidy of religious activity appears to have the primary effect of

 advancing religion, a result prohibited by the establishment clause. Sloan v.

 Lemon, 413 U.S. 825 (1973); Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist,

 413 U.S. 756 (1973). An exemption for 'religious income' is also potentially

 entangling since, borrowing petitioner's definition of the term, it requires

 church and Government to determine item-by-item what is and is not income

 derived from and dedicated to religious activity. New York v. Cathedral

 Academy, 434 U.S. 125, 133 (1977); Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602

 (1971). [FN53] Given these dangers of entanglement and establishment, *459

 at the very least, Congress ought to be the body to decide whether religious

 income is deserving of an exemption.

  Petitioner claims that section 501(c)(3) as construed violates its right to

 carry on certain commercial activity which is affirmatively protected by the

 First Amendment. Specifically petitioner claims that it cannot make a profit,

 accumulate earnings sell religious literature, advertise, or remunerate its

 founder without losing its exemption by running afoul of the commercial purpose

 limitation that has been read into section 501(c)(3). Petitioner exaggerates

 the scope of First Amendment protection for church-sponsored commercial

 activity. We assume ARGUENDO that the First Amendment protects some, if not

 all, of the listed commercial practices. See, e.g., Heffron v. International

 Society for Krishna Consciousness, 452 U.S. 640, 647 (1981); Jamison v.

 Texas, 318 U.S. 413, 416-417 (1943). However, they are protected only when

 they are carried on as part of a religious mission. The First Amendment draws a

 vital distinction between purely commercial activity and commercial activity in

 furtherance of a religious purpose. Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105,

 110 (1943). Section 501(c)(3) incorporates the requirements of First Amendment

 tolerance for commercial activity in aid of religion. A religious organization

 can maintain its exemption and engage in commercial activity provided it is

 incidental to its religious purpose. The exemption is only lost when church-

 sponsored commercial activity takes on a life of its own and assumes an

 independent importance and purpose. Sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(c), Income Tax Rgs.;

 Ecclesiastical Order of Ism of Am v. Commissioner, 80 T.C. 833, 839 (1983),

 on appeal (6th Cir. July 6, 1983); Parker v. Commissioner, 365 F. 2d 792,

 798-799 (8th Cir. 1966), cert. denied 385 U.S. 1026 (1967). Petitioner,

 therefore, does not suffer any constitutional injury on account of section

 501(c)(3)'s limitation on commercial activity.

  Section 501(c)(3) does interfere with the California Church's practice of its

 belief in the doctrine of exchange. [FN54] This belief led the Church to exact

 a fee for its religious literature, *460 artifacts and services. Thus, by

 its own admission, five of its branch churches earned between 73 and 100

 percent of their income from the sale of these items. While this fact alone

 does not explain our decision that petitioner is ineligible for exemption

 because it has a substantial commercial purpose, it does measurable contribute

 to our decision. See infra at 144-145. Since there is direct conflict between

 petitioner's religious practices and petitioner's eligibility for exemption,

 this claim warrants strict judicial scrutiny. Bob Jones University v. United

 States, 461 U.S. 574, 103 S.Ct. 2017, 2035 (1983). Under this standard,

 government 'may justify a limitation on religious liberty by showing that it is

 essential to accomplish an overriding governmental interest.' Bob Jones

 University v. United States, 103 S.Ct. at 2035, quoting United States v.

 Lee, 455 U.S. 252, 257-258 (1982). We believe petitioner's claim is directly

 controlled by the Lee case. There it was held that the soundness of the social

 security system, like the soundness of the revenue system, was an overriding

 governmental interest that could not be made to accommodate exemptions based on

 religious tenets without destroying the integrity of the revenue base. 455

 U.s. at 260.

  Having disposed of petitioner's claims that the express conditions of section

 501(c)(3) violate the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, we turn to

 petitioner's claims that section 501(c)(3) violates the establishment clause. A

 statute must pass three separate tests in order to satisfy the requirements of

 the establishment clause.

  First, the statute must have a secular legislative purpose; second, its

 principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits

 religion; finally, the statute must not foster 'an excessive government

 entanglement with religion.'

  Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 612-612 (1971), quoting Walz v. Tax

 Commission, 397 U.S. 664, 674 (1970) (citations omitted). Petitioner claims

 that section 501(c0(3) violates the second and third tests. The gist of

 petitioner's first argument is that the commercial purpose restriction hurts

 newer religions since they must rely on commercial techniques to attract

 members, propagate their faith, and raise income whereas older religions

 already have public recognition, established coffers, and a body of followers.

 Although we believe there is *461 play in section 501(c)(3) which allows

 newer religions to proselytize aggressively, arguably its overall impact on

 newer religions is harsher. However, this fact alone, even if true, does not

 invalidate section 501(c)(3). In addition, petitioner 'must * * * show the

 absence of a neutral, secular basis for the lines government has drawn.'

 Gillette v. United States, 401 U.S. 437, 452 (1971). Petitioner has not done

 this. Moreover, we are convinced that the commercial purpose test does not rest

 on sectarian favoritism for established religions but instead has its basis in

 charitable trust law which requires charitable organizations to eschew

 commercialism in favor of serving goals designed to benefit the community at

 large. See sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(1)(ii), Income Tax Regs.; see also

 Restatement (Second) of Trusts, secs. 368, Comment a, and 376 (1959).

  Petitioner also maintains that section 501(c)(3) on its face and as applied

 results in excessive government entanglement at the administrative level in

 violation of the third establishment clause test set forth in Lemon v.

 Kurtzman, supra. According to petitioner the sheer magnitude of respondent's

 enforcement efforts is one tell-tale sign of entanglement. In slightly more

 than 10 years, respondent audited petitioner four times. One of these audits

 lasted a full year, employed three (perhaps four) agents, and covered millions

 of documents. Respondent also collected thousands of documents relating to

 petitioner. By the end of 1974, respondent's files contained approximately two

 thousand Church policy letters and some books and brochures describing

 Scientology beliefs and practices. According to petitioner, respondent also

 unconstitutionally entangled himself in petitioner's affairs by questioning the

 religiosity of certain Church practices and by using petitioner's policy

 letters to inquire into Church discipline, structure, and policy.

  Usually the entanglement test is invoked by a claimant seeking to invalidate a

 Government program authorizing benefits to religion. See, e.g., Mueller v.

 Allen, 463 U.S., 103 S.Ct. 3062 (1983); New York. v. Cathedral Academy,

 434 U.S. 125 (1977); Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Maryland, 426

 U.S. 736 (1976). Here, petitioner does not want to end the Government benefit

 but merely to avoid respondent's interference with its enjoyment. Petitioner's

 complaint, therefore, sounds more like a free exercise than an establishment

 clause complaint. See *462 United States v. Holmes, 614 F.2d 985, 989 and

 n. 7 (5th Cir. 1980). However, the entanglement test has been used on occasion

 to limit the reach of governmental power to regulate religious activity. See

 NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 440 U.S. 490 (1979). [FN55]

  The establishment clause does not prevent the Government from making a

 threshold inquiry into whether or not a given practice is religious in nature

 and therefore entitled to First Amendment protection. See Wisconsin v. Yoder,

 406 U.S. 205, 209-213 (1972); International Society for Krishna

 Consciousness, Inc. v. Barber, 650 F.2d 430, 433 (2d Cir. 1981); Jones v.

 Bradley, 590 F.2d 294, 295 (9th Cir. 1979). Petitioner's objections to

 respondent's inquiry into the religiosity of Dianetics and the E-meter

 therefore lack legal merit. The inquiry never crossed the threshold. Once

 petitioner's witnesses asserted that the E-meter and Dianetics had a religious

 purpose, respondent dropped the inquiry.

  Petitioner also contends that respondent aided by Church policy letters made

 an impermissibly entangling inquiry into the Church's management, corporate

 structure, and its dissemination practices. We disagree. The establishment

 clause does not cloak a church in utter secrecy, nor does it immunize a church

 from all governmental authority. The thrust of the entanglement component of

 the establishment clause is to keep Government out of the business of umpiring

 matters involving religious belief and practice. Serbian Orthodox Diocese v.

 Milivojevich, 426 U.S. 696, 709-710 (1976); Presbyterian Church in the

 United States v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church, 393

 U.S. 440, 449 (1969). However, civil authorities are not barred from settling

 disputes implicating the secular side of church affairs as long as they rely on

 neutral principles of law. Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595, 602-603 (1979);

 Maryland and Virginia Eldership of the Churches of God v. Church of God at

 Sharpsburg, Inc., 396 U.S. 367 (1970).

  *463 Respondent did not rely on Church policy letters to establish basic

 facts about the Church. A nine-volume encyclopedia of Scientology policy called

 the OEC series was placed in evidence. Some of the policy letters in these

 volumes contain instructions on religious practices. The majority contain

 information about Church administration. An expert witness for the church

 compared the OEC series to the constitution of the Presbyterian Church.

 Respondent relied on scattered policy letters in the OEC volumes to question

 witnesses about the Church's dissemination practices, its corporate structure

 and its management functions. In making his inquiry, respondent skirted matters

 of religious doctrine except at the threshold level of inquiry. We have also

 used Church policy letters to make findings on these topics and others

 including the Church's Franchise Programme and pricing policies. However, we

 have not had to resolve doctrinal matters to make our findings. The Church's

 documents speak for themselves. We, therefore, find that the use of Church

 policy letters in this case is consistent with the rule laid down in Jones v.

 Wolf, supra, which allows the state to examine Church documents, including

 the constitution of a church, provided the documents are scrutinized in purely

 secular terms and the facts determined are not attendant on the resolution of

 doctrinal issues. 443 U.S. at 604. See also Maryland and Virginia Eldership

 of the Churches of God v. Church of God at Sharpsburg, Inc., supra at 368.

  Entanglement per se is not objectionable. What is objectionable is excessive

 entanglement. By this is meant a relationship between an arm of government and

 a religious institution which threatens religious liberty by coercing,

 compromising, or influencing religious belief. Compare Lemon v. Kurtzman,

 403 U.S. 602 (1971), with Mueller v. Allen, 463 U.S.__, 103 S.Ct. 3062

 (1983). In its more benign form, an entangling statute is one which establishes

 some type of government surveillance of a religious institution's affairs. See,

 e.g., Lemon v. Kurtzman, supra. In its severe form an entangling statute is one

 which imposes a program of government regulation. See, e.g., NLRB v. Catholic

 Bishop of Chicago, 440 U.S. 490 (1979). Section 501(c)(3) does not fall into

 this second class. It is not a regulatory measure. The determination of a

 religious organization's tax liability does not entail *464 free to

 structure its finances as it sees fit. United States v. Freedom Church, 613

 F.2d 316, 320 (1st Cir. 1979).

  Section 501(c)(3) falls into the more benign category of entangling statutes

 since it exposes a religious organization to government audits. However, the

 audits required under section 501(c)(3) do not share many of the features of

 the audits found objectionable in the entanglement cases. First, respondent

 does not have to monitor the activities of live human beings. Compare NLRB v.

 Catholic Bishop of Chicago, supra at 501; Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U.S.

 672, 687-688 (1971). Second, respondent does not have to scrutinize closely the

 religious content of the organization's activities. Each receipt, expenditure

 and activity of the organization does not have to be reviewed for its

 religiosity. Compare New York v. Cathedral Academy, 434 U.S. 125, 132-133

 (1977). Of course, records have to be examined and some judgments made about

 the purpose of the organization's programs, receipts and expenses. However,

 respondent does not have to sit as a religious expert. His task is to judge

 whether the records evince a primary commercial purpose. Equally as important,

 respondent does not have to make determinations about each and every item of

 receipt or expense since section 501(c)(3) permits some commercial activity.

 The loss of an exemption comes about only when the church's activities in the

 aggregate reflect a primary purpose to engage in private enterprise. Finally,

 the audits need not occur on an annual basis. Compare Tilton v. Richardson,

 supra at 688. Churches which meet the qualifications for exemption do not

 have to file annual returns. Sec. 6033 (a)(2)(A)(i).

  Respondent's involvement with petitioner was extensive. However, the blame for

 a goodly measure of this involvement must be laid at petitioner's doorstep.

 From 1969 onward, petitioner schemed to block the IRS from examining its

 records and determining its tax liability. It delayed and stalled revenue

 agents. It did not keep normal business records. It falsified records, failed

 to respond to requests for information, and misrepresented facts in many of

 those it did answer. The First Amendment's injunction against entanglement was

 not designed to shield a church against the Government's efforts to lay and

 collect taxes in the face of such flagrant and often illegal resistance.

  *465 Petitioner's remaining objection, that respondent evaluated the

 religiosity of some of its practices, is also without merit. Respondent did

 examine certain Church practices, characterized by petitioner as religious, for

 their commerciality. The inquiry, however, did not intrude upon Church dogma

 and belief except at the threshold level. See Walz v. Tax Commission, 397

 U.S. 664, 697-698 n. 1 (1970) (Harlan, J. concurring). As is so often said 'the

 line of separation (between church and state), far from being a 'wall,' is a

 blurred, indistinct and variable barrier depending on all the circumstances of

 a particular relationship.' Lemon v. Kurtzman, supra at 614. We find that the

 enforcement measures at issue here have created no more than an incidental

 burden on respondent's religious liberty.

  Petitioner argues that the express and implied conditions for exempting

 religious organizations from taxation under section 501(c)(3) are unduly vague

 in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments. Petitioner's argument is

 confined to three aspects of the statue: (1) the requirement of an exclusively

 religious purpose; (2) the requirement forbidding inurement; and (3) the

 requirement of complying with public policy. [FN56] We do not reach the merits

 of petitioner's argument since we find petitioner lacks standing to raise it.

  A claimant raising a vagueness defense must demonstrate that the statute is

 vague with respect to his conduct. He is not entitled to attack the statute

 because the language would not give similar fair warning to others. Parker v.

 Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 756 (1974). Each of the requirements which petitioner

 challenges has received narrowing constructions. The 'exclusively religious'

 condition has been construed to mean that a substantial part of the

 organizations activities cannot serve a commercial purpose and that the

 following factors are to be considered in applying the test: amount of annual

 profits, amount of accumulated earnings, methods of operation, competition with

 like services in private enterprise, proportion of expenditures devoted to

 exempt purposes. See sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(c), Income Tax Regs.; see also Parker

 v. Commissioner, 365 f.2d 792, 798 (8th Cir. 1966), cert. denied 385 U.S.

 1026 (1967); Aid to Artisans, Inc. v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 202,

 *466 212 (1978); Fides Publishers Ass'n v. United States, 263 f. Supp.

 924 (N.D. Ind. 1967). As construed, the inurement provision allows a religious

 organization to make ordinary and necessary business expenditures but disallows

 any other payments to private individuals no matter how small the amount.

 Founding Church of Scientology v. United States, 188 Ct.Cl. 490, 497, 500,

 412 F.2d 1197, 1200, 1202 (1969), cert. denied 397 U.S. 1009 (1970). This

 Court construed the public policy requirement to prohibit substantial activity

 in violation of well-defined public policy such as may be evidenced by a civil

 or criminal statute. Memorandum Sur Order filed April 1, 1980 at 56; Ruling

 Memorandum to the Parties, Re: Evidence with Respect to So-Called Public Policy

 Issues, dated October 30, 1980 at 5. For reasons only briefly stated here but

 amplified elsewhere in this opinion, petitioner's conduct clearly falls within

 the ambit of these narrowing constructions. It has made a business out of

 selling religion; it has diverted millions of dollars through a bogus trust

 fund and a sham corporation to key Scientology officials; and it has conspired

 for almost a decade to defraud the United States Government by impeding the IRS

 from determining and collecting taxes from it and affiliated churches.

 Petitioner, therefore, lacks standing to challenge section 501(c)(30 on

 vagueness grounds.

  Petitioner's final constitutional argument concerns the burden of proof.

 [FN57] Ordinarily the taxpayer bears the burden of proof in the Tax Court to

 show that respondent's determination of deficiency is erroneous. Rule 142(a).

 Relying on Speiser v. Randall, 357 U.S. 513 (1958), petitioner claims this

 rule of procedure offends due process when applied to a church that has been

 determined deficient. According to petitioner, due *467 regard for religious

 liberty requires respondent to shoulder the burden of proof.

  Speiser v. Randall, supra, struck down under the due process clause of the

 Fourteenth Amendment a California taxing scheme which denied exemption to

 otherwise qualified taxpayers who unlawfully advocated the overthrow of the

 Government by force and violence. The California statute placed the burden of

 proof on the taxpayer to show he had not engaged in criminal speech. The Court

 assumed without deciding that a state had the power to deny tax exemptions to

 persons who engaged in criminal speech. 357 U.S. at 520. It then went on to

 hold:

   (W)hen the constitutional right to speak is sought to be deterred by a

 State's general taxing program due process demands that the speech be

 unencumbered until the State comes forward with sufficient proof to justify its

 inhibition.

  357 U.S. at 528-529. The similarities between Speiser and the instant case

 are only superficial. Both situations involve the interplay between a

 fundamental liberty and the Government's authority to lay and collect taxes.

 There the similarities end. The taxing provisions found offensive in speiser

 were aimed at the suppression of speech. 357 U.S. at 525. Also, the

 procedural device employed to ferret out ineligible claimants had the practical

 effect of deterring speech. 357 U.S. at 526. Unlike the California

 provisions, section 501(c)(3) was not enacted to restrain religious liberty.

 The Senate debate on section 38 of the Act of August 5, 1901, 36 Stat. 112-

 113, a forerunner of section 501(c)(3), clearly shows that the congressional

 purpose behind the measure was to excuse charitable organizations from paying

 taxes so long as their profit was exclusively devoted to charitable purposes.

 See 44 Cong. Rec. 4150 4151, 4155-4156 (1909) [FN58]. Moreover, as our

 earlier discussions of this point concluded, section 501(c)(3) does not operate

 as a restraint on religious liberty.

  *468 The function of procedural devices like the burden of proof or

 standard of proof is to distribute the risk of error in the factfinding

 process. Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 754-755 (1982). Where a claimant

 is threatened with serious loss, due process requires that the claimant have

 greater protection against error. 455 U.S. at 758. In determining the

 seriousness of a claimant's loss, a court will consider both the nature of the

 interest at stake and the permanency of the loss. 455 U.S. at 758. Here, no

 liberty interest is at stake -- merely the loss of money. Furthermore, the

 Church's loss is not permanent. It can regain its exempt status. The burden of

 proof has traditionally been placed on the taxpayer out of recognition that

 'taxes are the life-blood of government' and therefore the Government's burdens

 in collecting the revenue must be few and light. Bull v. United States, 295

 U.S. 247, 259-260 (1935). Placing the burden of proof on the taxpayer is also

 justified on the basis that the facts and figures on which tax liability rests

 are peculiarly within the taxpayer's knowledge. Campbell v. United States,

 365 U.S. 85, 96 (1961). Under the circumstances, we see no reason to upset

 the normal rule and place the burden of proof on respondent. [FN59]

                                      III.

  Neither the notice of deficiency issued on December 28, 1977 nor the pleadings

 treated the United Kingdom Church as a branch of petitioner. Respondent first

 presented evidence relating to the United Kingdom Church on December 11, 1980

 during the third week of trial immediately after petitioner rested its case-in-

 chief. Respondent contended that the United Kingdom Church was a branch of

 petitioner and that its operations were relevant to petitioner's tax status

 under three theories. First, the franchises managed by the United Kingdom

 Church were a commercial operation. Second, petitioner's attempt to conceal the

 corporate status of the United Kingdom Church was proof that it conspired to

 prevent the IRS from *469 performing its duties. Third, L. Ron Hubbard

 possibly made personal use of the money deposited in the Worldwide Franchise

 accounts. After some shilly-shallying by respondent over the scope of

 respondent's intended reliance on evidence relating to the United Kingdom

 Church, this Court, over petitioner's objection, ruled on July 20, 1981 that

 respondent could present evidence relating to the United Kingdom Church's

 activities and corporate status under all three theories of relevance.

  Rule 41(b)(2) encourages this Court to accept evidence that is not within the

 issues raised by the pleadings 'freely when justice so requires' provided the

 objecting party is not prejudiced by its admission. Rule 41(b)(2) closely

 parallels Fed. R. Civ. p. 15(b). However, Rule 15(b), Fed. R. Civ. P.,

 instructs the bench to grant a continuance to enable the objecting party to

 prepare rebuttal evidence.

  We think that the interests of justice require us to admit respondent's

 evidence concerning the United Kingdom Church. First, petitioner had ample time

 through continuances to prepare rebuttal evidence. See Robbins v. Jordan,

 181 F. 2d 793, 795 (D.C. Cir. 1950). This case was tried intermittently over

 the course of a year. The matter of the United Kingdom Church was first raised

 on December 11, 1980. On December 29, 1980 this Court made a preliminary ruling

 admitting the evidence. The ruling became final on July 20, 1981, the first day

 of the seventh week of trial. This Court then ruled that respondent could

 present evidence relating to the United Kingdom Church's activities and

 corporate status under three theories of relevance: commercialism, inurement

 and conspiracy. Petitioner began its rebuttal case on August 17, 1981. With

 continuances, petitioner completed rebuttal on November 12, 1981. During

 rebuttal, petitioner presented ample documentary and testimonial evidence

 directed toward refuting loss of tax-exempt status as a result of the United

 Kingdom Church's operations. Thus, we find that the continuances cured the

 prejudice, if any, to petitioner arising form respondent's presentation of the

 new material. Second, we are not very sympathetic to petitioner's cry of

 prejudice. The facts surrounding the United Kingdom Church's legal status were

 known to petitioner long before the trial, see Hodgson v. Colonnades, Inc.,

 472 F.2d 42, 48 (5th Cir. 1973); Scruggs v. *470 Chesapeake and Ohio

 Railway Co., 320 F.Supp. 1248, 1250 (W.D. Va. 1970), and respondent's

 tardiness in raising the issue is clearly more attributable to petitioner's

 efforts at obfuscation than to respondent's bad faith or negligence. Finally,

 we believe that there would be a miscarriage of justice were the matter

 excluded. Petitioner's avowed purpose in bringing the various British churches

 under its corporate structure was to blanket them in its tax-exempt mantle

 since the British authorities refused to grant them an exemption. Thus, if the

 United Kingdom Church is not subjected to our scrutiny, it will probably escape

 scrutiny altogether for the tax years at issue.

  Petitioner claims that respondent raised the new matter in bad faith.

 Petitioner claims that respondent knew all along that the United Kingdom Church

 belonged to petitioner but deliberately waited to raise the issue until

 petitioner had completed its case-in-chief in order to sandbag petitioner. We

 do not interpret the facts as petitioner does. We agree that a few of

 respondent's agents had knowledge that the United Kingdom Church was formally

 incorporated as a branch of petitioner. Chief among them was Lewis Hubbard, an

 attorney in the Chief Counsel's Office, who provided guidance to the 1971-1974

 audit team while the audit was in progress. At the time of the audit, Lewis

 Hubbard had clearly read documents describing the California Church as a

 company registered to do business in the United Kingdom. He had also read the

 Foster Report, a document prepared for British Parliament, which explained that

 the main activities of Scientology in the United Kingdom were carried on by the

 California Church and that

  this was done for tax reasons. Nevertheless Lewis Hubbard credibility

 testified that at the time of the audit he believed that the United States

 Kingdom Church was only nominally connected to petitioner and that it had de

 facto independence. Certainly the Church did everything in its power to present

 this false picture or, what is worse, to hide the connection altogether. When,

 during the Hawaii audit which preceded the 1971-1974 audit, Kreiner, the

 Church's attorney, told Lewis Hubbard that petitioner incorporated the United

 Kingdom Church but it operated separately and independently, we must imagine

 that Kreiner said it in much the same way that another of *471 petitioner's

 attorneys when objecting to a subpoena of the bank records of the United

 Kingdom Church told this Court:

   The accounts referred to there are not accounts of the Church of Scientology

 of California and they are not in its custody and control. It is true that the

 accounts bear the name Church of Scientology of California Worldwide but they

 are actually accounts of the United Kingdom Church of Scientology which until

 two years ago, as I understand it, was incorporated as the Church of

 Scientology of California but never, ever was a part of the Church of

 Scientology of California that's involved in this case.

   Those accounts have had nothing to do with the Church of Scientology of

 California involved in this case.

  Towards the end of the 1971-1974 audit, Agent Endo changed some wording in his

 draft report of the audit on Lewis Hubbard's advice. The original version

 stated outright that petitioner had seven divisions and listed them. On the

 advice of Lewis Hubbard, Endo changed this to state that according to

 petitioner's submissions the Church had seven divisions. The listed divisions

 did not include the United Kingdom Church. Petitioner sees some form of

 sinister entrapment in this. We find nothing but the professional exercise of

 precaution.

  Lewis Hubbard ceased advising respondent on Scientology matters in July 1977.

 This was several months before agent Endo drafted the notice of deficiency in

 November of 1977. There is no evidence that Lewis Hubbard advised Endo when the

 latter drafted the notice of deficiency which for all intents and purposes

 framed the issues in this case. Other than Lewis Hubbard, none of respondent's

 agents with direct responsibility for the prosecution of this case, or the

 1971-1974 audit underlying it, even knew that the United Kingdom Church was

 connected with petitioner. During the Hawaii audit and the 1971-1974 audit

 respondent's agents reviewed letters, checks, receipts and disbursement

 vouchers bearing such names as the church of Scientology of California UK or

 Church of Scientology WW on the letterhead or as the endorsement or payee. A

 few letters and receipts bore petitioner's name in bold print on the letterhead

 and the words 'a non-profit corporation in U.S.A. registered in England' in

 fine print across the bottom. There were few such documents in comparison to

 the more than 2 million documents which the agents reviewed. Under the

 circumstances, where Church officials were actively misleading the audit team

 about the *472 legal status of the United Kingdom Church, we do not think

 that the mere mention of the official name of the United Kingdom Church on a

 document, often in fine print, should have appraised respondent of the legal

 relationship. [FN60]

  In conclusion, we find no evidence of bad faith in respondent's initial

 failure to incorporate the operations of the United Kingdom Church in its case

 petitioner. Admittedly Lewis Hubbard was on the road to discovery. However,

 Church officials did everything in their power to throw IRS officials off the

 scent of the United Kingdom Church's legal and operating connection to

 petitioner. They were almost successful. We cannot, however, countenance their

 effort at obfuscation by excluding the issue from our consideration. If any

 party is guilty of bad faith, it is petitioner.

  Petitioner cites a number of cases in which this Court has disallowed the

 introduction of a new issue on grounds of prejudice. See, e.g., Fox Chevrolet,

 Inc. v. Commissioner, 76 T.C. 708, 733-736 (1981); Estate of Goldsborough v.

 Commissioner, 70 T.C. 1077, 1085-1086 (1978); affd. in an unpublished

 opinion 673 F.2d 1310 (4th Cir. 1982); Estate of Mandels v. Commissioner,

 64 T.C. 61, 73 (1975); Estate of Horvath v. Commissioner, 59 T.C. 551,

 556 (1973). These cases are distinguishable. Unlike the case at bar, no

 continuance was granted to allow the objecting party time to meet the evidence.

 Also, unlike the case at bar, the objecting party did not induce or contribute

 to respondent's failure to grasp and raise the issue sooner.

  Respondent bears the burden of proving the United Kingdom Church is an

 operating branch of petitioner, since this matter was not pleaded, is

 inconsistent with the notice of deficiency, and required petitioner to produce

 new evidence to refute it. Rule 142(a); Achiro v. Commissioner, 77 T.C. 881,

 890 (1981); Estate of Falese v. Commissioner, 58 T.C. 895, 899 (1972).

 Petitioner concedes that the United Kingdom Church was incorporated as the

 Church of Scientology of California but argues that the United Kingdom Church

 operated independently: *473 De jure it is part of petitioner; de facto it

 is separate. Petitioner argues that substance should control over form. We

 reject petitioner's argument. Historically, the churches that comprise the

 United Kingdom Church were not part of petitioner. They operated independently.

 However, the British authorities would not grant them non-profit status. As a

 result the assets of these churches were transferred to petitioner so that they

 could carry on their operations in the United Kingdom under petitioner's tax-

 exempt mantle. As we said in Legg v. Commissioner, 57 T.C. 164 (1971), affd.

 per curiam 496 F.2d 1179 (9th Cir. 1974):

   The petitioner's first contention has little or no justification in light of

 the fact that the form of the transaction was contemplated and carried out by

 the petitioners; it was their decision to report the sale on the installment

 basis. A taxpayer cannot elect a specific course of action and then when

 finding himself in an adverse situation extricate himself by applying the age-

 old theory of substance over form.

  57 T.C. at 169. Petitioner elected to make the United Kingdom Church a

 branch church. It cannot escape the consequences of that decision now. '(W)hile

 a taxpayer is free to organize his affairs as he chooses, nevertheless, once

 having done so, he must accept the tax consequences of his choice* * *.'

 Commissioner v. National Alfalfa Dehydrating & Milling Co., 417 U.S. 134,

 149 (1974) (citations omitted).

  We also find that the United Kingdom Church was in fact subordinate to

 petitioner. Admittedly it appears to have had some operating autonomy, and, by

 and large, to have kept separate financial accounts. However, the United

 Kingdom Church did not have a bona fide board of directors. Additionally two of

 its major activities, its Guardian Office and its Franchise Office, were

 ultimately controlled by Flag executives. Also, key officials of both churches

 had authority to sign checks on the other church's accounts and sometimes

 exercised it. These indicia of the United Kingdom Church's dependence on

 petitioner are sufficient to carry respondent's burden of proof.

                                       IV.

  In his notice of deficiency, respondent determined that petitioner was not

 operated exclusively for religious or other *474 tax-exempt purposes as

 required by section 501(c)(3) during the years 1970, 1971 and 1972 and,

 therefore, was not exempt from tax under section 501(a). Specifically,

 respondent contends that petitioner was operated for a substantial commercial

 purpose and that the net earnings of petitioner inured to the benefit of

 private individuals. At the outset, we note that the burden of proof is on

 petitioner to overcome these grounds for denial of exempt status by respondent.

 Schoger Foundation v. Commissioner, 76 T.C. 380, 386 (1981); Rule 142(a).

 See discussion supra at 129-132.

  In order for an organization to be entitled to exemption from Federal income

 taxes under section 501(a) and (c)(3), it must establish that it is organized

 and operated exclusively for exempt purposes. Thus, qualification for tax-

 exempt status under section 501(c)(3) is based on the satisfaction of two tests

 commonly known as the organizational and operational tests. In order to satisfy

 the organizational test, an organization's articles of incorporation must limit

 it to one or more exempt purposes and not authorize substantial activities

 which are not in furtherance of such purposes. Respondent concedes that

 petitioner satisfied the organizational test during the docketed years.

  It is the second test, the operational test, which lies at the heart of the

 dispute in this case. Under this test, an organization must not engage, other

 than in insubstantial part, in activities which do not further an exempt

 purpose. Sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(b) and (c), Income Tax Regs.; Nat. Assn. of

 American Churches v. Commissioner, 82 T.C. 18, 28-29 (1984). With respect to

 the operational test, it is 'the purpose towards which an organization's

 activities are directed, and not the nature of the activities themselves, that

 is ultimately dispositive of the organization's right to be classified as a

 section 501(c)(3) organization.' B.S.W. Group, Inc., v. Commissioner, 70

 T.C. 352, 356-357 (1978). See est of Hawaii v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 1067,

 1078-1079(1979), affd. in an unpublished opinion 647 F. 2d 170 (9th Cir.

 1981).

  Whether an organization satisfies the operational test is a question of fact

 to be resolved on the basis of all the evidence presented by the record. See,

 e.g., est of Hawaii v. Commissioner, supra at 1079; B.S.W. Group, Inc. v.

 Commissioner, supra at 357. We are, of course, fully cognizant of the fact

 that although *475 an organization might be engaged in a single activity,

 that activity may further multiple purposes, both exempt and nonexempt.

 However, while the term 'exclusively' contained in section 501(c)(3) has not

 been construed to mean 'solely' or 'absolutely without exception,' Church in

 Boston v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 102, 107 (1978), it is well established that

 the 'word 'exclusively' places a definite limit on the 'purpose' at issue.'

 Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. 793, 804 (1982).

 Thus, the Supreme Court in Better Business Bureau v. United States, 326 U.S.

 279, 283 (1945), explained the limit as follows:

   (I)n order to fall within the claimed exemption, an organization must be

 devoted to * * * (exempt) purposes exclusively. This plainly means that the

 presence of a single * * * (nonexempt) purpose, if substantial in nature, will

 destroy the exemption regardless of the number or importance of truly * * *

 (exempt) purposes.

  Accordingly, we must decide toward what end petitioner's activities are

 directed and whether such activities are 'animated' by a substantial commercial

 purpose. Better Business Bureau v. United States supra at 284. In doing so,

 we note that where a nonexempt purpose is not an expressed goal, the courts

 have generally focused on the manner in which the activities of the

 organization are conducted, implicitly reasoning that an end can be inferred

 from the chosen means. Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Co. v.

 Commissioner, __F.2d__(3rd Cir. Aug. 29, 1984), slip op. at 14, quoting from

 79 T.C. 1070. 1082-1083 (1982). Among the factors relevant in making such an

 inquiry are the particular manner in which an organization conducts its

 activities, the commercial hue of those activities and the existence and amount

 of annual or accumulated profits. B.S.W. Group, Inc. v. Commissioner, supra

 at 357. The existence of any of these factors supports a conclusion that an

 organization was not operated exclusively for an exempt purpose.

  Practically everywhere we turn, we find evidence of petitioner's commercial

 purpose. Certainly, if language reflects reality, petitioner had a substantial

 commercial purpose since it described its activities in highly commercial

 terms, calling parishioners, 'customers'; missions, 'franchises'; and

 churches, *476 'organizations' just to mention a few of the more glaring

 examples of petitioner's commercial vocabulary.

  Petitioner was eager to make money. This was expressed in HCO PL March 9,

 1972, MS OEC 381, 384. It sets out the governing policy of petitioner's

 financial offices by exhorting these offices to 'MAKE MONEY. * * * MAKE

 MONEY. * * * MAKE MORE MONEY. * * * MAKE OTHER PEOPLE PRODUCE SO AS TO MAKE

 MONEY.' (capitalization in the original.) This is not an isolated policy letter

 coming back to haunt petitioner. The goal of making money permeated virtually

 all of petitioner's activities -- its services, its pricing policies, its

 dissemination practices and its management decisions.

  Perhaps the most dramatic indicator of petitioner's commercial purpose is the

 fact that petitioner sold virtually all of its important religious services and

 products. Petitioner did some things for free: weddings, funerals, baptisms,

 family counseling, crisis auditing, and charity work. The record does not

 disclose how much of petitioner's resources were devoted to these free

 activities. [FN61] We do know, however, that the heart of petitioner's

 religious program, its auditing and training services, had to be purchased. The

 public paid a fee for these services, and while staff, on contract, were

 allowed free service, this was secured by a legal note which became due and

 payable if the contract was broken. Books and artifacts also had to be

 purchased. The dominant role played by petitioner's sales of religious services

 and products is brought home by the following table. It shows the percentages

 of total income each of petitioner's branch churches providing services to the

 public earned from the sale of petitioner's services and products: [FN62]



       UK  AOLA  ASHO  LAO  SFO



 1971  73   92    92   95   97

 1972  73   99    99   98   100



  *477 Of course, we are fully aware of the fact that these services and

 products are religious; however, the overall manner in which they were provided

 evidences a commercial purpose. In reaching this conclusion, we are

 particularly impressed by three factors: (1) the manner in which petitioner

 promoted Scientology services to the public: (2) petitioner's pricing policies

 with respect to such services and products; and (3) the contractual

 arrangements entered into by petitioner and its parishioners and staff with

 respect to Scientology services.

  Petitioner made strenuous efforts to promote Scientology to the public. It

 gave free lectures and personality testing. It held congresses. It advertised.

 Staff members called 'registrars', using a filing system, contacted the public

 and parishioners to encourage them to purchase Scientology services. Another

 group of people, FSMs, operating on a commission basis also sold services to

 the public. These promotional efforts were guided by the results of surveys of

 community needs and desires. [FN63] Many of these practices are the stock and

 trade of the missionary. However, a few like the payment of commissions to

 FSMs, closely replicate business methods. Furthermore, it is clear that the

 purpose of these promotional activities was not just to spread religion but to

 make money. [FN64]

  Pricing policies are another factor we consider in determining whether

 petitioner has a commercial purpose. Where prices are fixed to return a profit,

 we consider it some evidence of a commercial purpose, although not

 determinative. Christian Manner International v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 661,

 670 (1979); Peoples Translation Service v. Commissioner, 72 T.C. 42,

 *478 50 (1979). Petitioner's prices for its books and services were set to

 earn a profit. The minimum price for books was five times cost. Thus, even with

 the various discounts that were offered, petitioner stood to make a profit. The

 cost of auditing was also high, ranging from approximately $40 to $50 an hour

 and going as high as $76 an hour for specialized auditing. In terms of 1970

 dollars these prices seem particularly steep. At Flag, prices were even higher.

 Considering that staff who performed these services were paid a weekly salary

 of approximately $10 plus room and board, petitioner was clearly realizing a

 handsome profit.

  On brief petitioner called its fees for religious services 'fixed donations.'

 However, it is clear they were not donations but payments for services

 rendered. Indeed, petitioner itself repeatedly used such terms as 'price,'

 'buy,' and 'sell' in describing its activities, and its very own worksheets do

 no refer to these amounts as donations but have a separate account entitled

 'donations' for charitable contributions. Consequently, we cannot help but

 believe that the use of the term 'fixed donation' was employed by petitioner in

 an effort to achieve favorable tax treatment.

  Petitioner's pricing policies respecting discounts also show a concern for

 business. Thus, petitioner had a policy against offering services and products

 for free or reducing prices for parishioners who could not afford to pay full

 price. However, it did offer discounts where it stood to reap some advantage

 for itself, for example, on bulk sales or for advance payments.

  Not only did parishioners have to pay for religious services but they also had

 to sign a contract to get them. Under the terms of the contract the applicant

 waived all rights of action against L. Ron Hubbard and petitioner except the

 right to a refund. Likewise staff members had to sign a legal note obligating

 them to pay for services rendered in the event they broke their employment

 contracts. Petitioner's insistence on these legal formalities as a prerequisite

 to the rendition of Scientology services certainly colors its services with a

 commercial hue.

  Petitioner derived substantial income from its franchising operations. By

 petitioner's own records the income from its franchising operations during the

 tax years in question was as follows:



 1970 .. $288,672

 1971 ... 307,809

 1972 ... 435,960



  *479 In examining petitioner's activities with respect to its franchising

 operations, we find the manner in which these activities were conducted

 virtually indistinguishable from the manner in which most commercial franchises

 are operated. Petitioner allowed the franchise holders to market its name and

 copyrights in a designated area and sold them books at a discounted price;

 while, in turn, the franchise holders remitted 10 percent of their gross income

 to petitioner. These aspects of petitioner's franchising operations are closely

 analogous to the way in which all commercial franchising operations are

 conducted. Furthermore, the fact that petitioner paid its franchise holders

 commissions of 10 percent of the amounts their students spent at higher level

 organizations certainly punctuates the commercial nature of these operations.

 Additionally, the income generated from petitioner's franchising operations

 appears to be almost pure profit since petitioner received its percentage off

 the top from the franchise holder's gross income.

  During trial, Lorna Levett, a former franchise holder, testified that the

 Scientology franchise that she operated in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, from 1968

 through April 1974 was run as a private business. We find her characterization

 appropriate not only for her individual franchise but also for petitioner's

 entire franchising operations. They were indeed run as commercial businesses.

  A further example of the commercial manner of petitioner's operations was the

 income generated by the Flag Bureau through the provision of management

 services to Scientology organizations around the world, including branches of

 petitioner. Flag collected statistics from local churches, developed programs

 to improve church administration, and sent staff On assignment to local

 churches to help correct areas of administrative difficulty. Most of the

 statistics that were reported to Flag and then charted on graphs concerned

 income or production. Flag concentrated its attention on the organizations that

 made the greatest contributions to its support. All organizations that did not

 tithe to Worldwide paid Flag a management fee usually set at 10 percent of

 gross income.

  *480 These management services rendered by Flag closely resemble the types

 of management consulting services offered by numbers of commercial enterprises.

 They emphasized income production and retention and were clearly commercial in

 nature.

  Petitioner's policy of selling religious services, its franchise program, its

 emphasis on income and production statistics, it management services, it

 pricing policies, its promotion programs, especially the payment of commissions

 on sales of services, show convincingly that petitioner operated in a

 commercial manner. From this we draw the inference that petitioner had a

 substantial commercial purpose. However, we do not rest our decision on the

 commercial hue of petitioner's activities alone. Our conclusion that petitioner

 had a substantial commercial purpose is buttressed by two additional factors:

 the existence of sizable annual profits and substantial cash reserves.

  Although the presence of substantial profits is not necessarily determinative

 of a commercial purpose, such profits constitute 'evidence indicative of a

 commercial character.' Scripture Press Foundation v. United States, 152

 Ct.Cl. 463, 468, 285 F.2d 800, 803 (1961), cert. denied 368 U.S. 985

 (1962). See also Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel Worker Society v. United

 States, 510 F.Supp. 374, 378 (D.D.C. 1981), affd. without opinion 672

 F.2d 894 (D.C. Cir. 1981), cert. denied 456 U.S. 944 (1982); Parker v.

 Commissioner, 365 F.2d 792, 798 (8th Cir. 1966), cert. denied 385 U.S.

 1026 (1967). In his notice of deficiency, respondent determined that

 petitioner's seven stipulated divisions (SFO, LAO, FOLO, ASHO, AOLA, USGO, and

 Flag) had the following consolidated net incomes during the docketed years:



            Income                   1970            1971            1972



 Gross receipts                 $2,249,013.08   $3,301,143.73   $3,134,391.00

 Advance payments                  373,222.37      788,704.96    1,198,763.86

 Flag income                         ---           263,557.47      240,932.55

 Payment Danish Kingdom Church       ---                77.92    53,609.76

 Payment United Kingdom Church       ---            76,497.24    161,018.38

                                --------------  --------------  --------------

        Total income             2,622,235.45    4,429,981.32    4,788,715.55



           Expenses                  1970            1971            1972



 Per Form 990                   $2,438,646.65   $4,242,124.02   $4,178,876.05

 Trust                             (28,930.34)     (67,892.40)     (77,986.62)

 Charter Mission (disallowed)     (982,415.39)  (1,143,928.02)  (1,400,015.99)

 Flag expenses                       ---         1,238,466.30    1,036,108.56

                                --------------  --------------  --------------

     Total allowable

        expenses                 1,427,300.92    4,268,769.90    3,736,982.00

     Net income                  1,194,934.53      161,211.42    1,051,733.55



  *481 Petitioner does not actually contest the accuracy of these figures;

 however, it does disagree with the tax treatment accorded them by respondent.

 The most significant disagreement between the parties, at least in terms of

 amount, centers around the tax treatment of the amounts characterized as

 advance payments. In his notice of deficiency, respondent included such advance

 payments in income, stating:

   As a cash basis taxpayer, you received payments for services to be rendered

 in the future. These amounts were not included in the gross receipts reflected

 on Forms 990 but are includible in your taxable income. Accordingly, your

 taxable income is increased in the amounts indicated.

  Initially in its petition, the Church argued that not only were the advance

 payments not income in the years of receipt, but in addition all amounts paid

 for religious services should be excluded from income since such amounts were

 received as charitable contributions from its parishioners. However, on brief,

 petitioner apparently abandons this contention and asserts instead that the

 advance payments of $373,222.37 in 1970, $788,704.96 in 1971, and $1,198,763.86

 in 1972 were incorrectly included in its income. Petitioner claims that the

 advance payments should not be treated as income since it had not earned them

 by rendering services and since it had a duty to refund them on demand at any

 time before the services were taken. [FN65]

  As a general rule, under the cash receipts and disbursement method, money

 which is received must be reported as gross income in the year in which it is

 received. Sec. 451(a); sec. 1.446-1(c)(1)(i), Income Tax Regs. Petitioner

 contends, however, *482 that the fact that it was under an obligation to

 refund the advance payments in full at any time prior to the rendering of

 services upon the request of the 'donor' somehow changes this tax treatment.

 Petitioner is clearly wrong on the law. At least since the seminal case of

 North American Oil Consolidated v. Burnet, 286 U.S. 417, 424 (1932), the

 receipt of money under a claim of right is treated as taxable income even

 though the recipient may be under a contingent obligation to return it later.

  We find the claim of right doctrine is applicable here. In order to avoid the

 application of the claim of right doctrine, 'the recipient must at least

 recognize in the year of receipt 'an existing and fixed obligation to repay the

 amount received' and 'make provisions for repayment.' ' Nordberg v.

 Commissioner, 79 T.C. 655, 665 (1982), affd. in an unpublished opinion

 720 F.2d 658 (1st Cir. 1983); Hope v. Commissioner, 55 T.C. 1020, 1030

 (1971), affd. 471 F.2d 738 (3d. Cir.), cert. denied 414 U.S. 824 (1973).

 The first condition is clearly not present in the instant case since petitioner

 was never under an existing and fixed obligation to repay the advance payments

 in question. Repayment was instead contingent on a refund request initiated by

 one of petitioner's 'donors.' Furthermore, there is no evidence in the record

 that petitioner's contingency liability to refund the advance payments imposed

 any restriction upon the use of the money in its hands. If petitioner

 eventually was required to refund any of the advance payments in a later year,

 it would then be entitled to a deduction for such amounts. However, such

 amounts are clearly income in the year of receipt.

  In reaching this conclusion, we find petitioner's reliance on our holding in

 Miele v. Commissioner, 72 T.C. 284 (1979), misplaced. In Miele, we found

 that a law firm that used a cash method of accounting did not have taxable

 income in the year in which its clients transferred advances to a special bank

 account. We distinguished North American Oil Consolidated v. Burnet, supra,

 on two grounds. The clients' funds were kept in separate bank accounts and the

 firm could only draw on the funds when an amount was undisputed. 72 T.C. at

 289-290. Our holding in Miele is clearly distinguishable from the instant case

 since there is absolutely no suggestion in the record that petitioner

 segregated the advance payments in any *483 of its numerous bank accounts.

 On the contrary, it appears that these payments were comingled with

 petitioner's other receipts and were thus received under claim of right. [FN66]

 Consequently, we find that respondent correctly included the amount of the

 advance payments in petitioner's taxable income for the taxable years in

 question.

  Another major area of disagreement between the parties is the appropriate tax

 treatment of the Charter Mission expenses. These payments represented amounts

 transferred by petitioner to OTC during the tax years at issue. On its Forms

 990 petitioner claimed them as business expenses. In his notice of deficiency,

 respondent disallowed petitioner's claimed Charter Mission expenses of

 $982,415.39 in 1970, $1,143,928.02 in 1971, and $1,400,015.99 in 1972, stating:

   It is determined that the amounts reported as Charter Mission Expense are not

 deductible because said amounts do not constitute ordinary and necessary

 expenses paid or incurred during the taxable years 1970, 1971, and 1972, but

 rather represent an internal transfer of funds to the Flag Division, which is a

 division of the Church of Scientology of California.

  However, concurrent with these adjustments, respondent did allow petitioner

 deductions for Flag Division expenses in the amounts of $1,238,466.30 in 1971

 and $1,036,108.56 in 1972, which were not previously reflected on the Forms 990

 filed by petitioner.

  It is here that the fluidity of petitioner's position is particularly

 impressive. Surprisingly, petitioner does not actually object to the

 adjustments made by respondent for either 1971 or 1972, although it does assert

 that respondent erred in not allowing a similar deduction for Flag expenses of

 $419,856.76 in 1970, which it now asserts was the actual amount Flag paid out

 for expenses that year. Basically, despite the fact that petitioner initially

 claimed deductions for all payments made to OTC, albeit without explanation,

 and despite the fact that it has steadfastly maintained that OTC is a separate

 corporation *484 from petitioner, it now argues that all payments to OTC

 from any branch of petitioner are essentially internal transfers to Flag for

 purposes of running religious activities aboard the Apollo. In order to explain

 its position, the petitioner now argues that OTC merely acted as a 'bank' or

 'agent' for petitioner.

  This relationship between petitioner and OTC was described by petitioner's

 accountant, Martin J. Greenberg, in his correspondence with respondent's agent.

 In a letter dated December 18, 1975, Greenberg stated,

   1) The basic relationship of the Church with OTC during the years 1971-74 was

 as follows: The Church chartered the ship Apollo from OTC for $2,000 per month.

 In addition, OTC acted as the Church's agent in the financial matters relating

 to Flag's operations. OTC received funds on behalf of the Church, and at the

 Church's instructions would pay all of the Church's expenses. OTC would issue a

 monthly statement of each individual disbursement made and an annual statement

 showing the receipts and disbursements for the year and the balance that the

 Church still had to its credit.

  In a follow-up letter dated February 9, 1976, Greenberg further stated,

   2c) The first point that should be made is that ALL payments to OTS/OTC from

 any branch of the Church of Scientology of California are essentially internal

 transfers to Flag to run their religious activities aboard the ship. That is

 the exempt purpose and the ONLY purpose of every single penny sent to OTS -- NO

 EXCEPTIONSs OTS MERELY ACTED AS A 'bank' OR 'agent' FOR THE CHURCH and the only

 funds actually paid to OTS for them to keep were the Charter fees and the

 finance charges. [FN67] * * *

   (2d and 2e) * * * The Churches have no 'liability' to OTS for management

 fees, training or any other service (except as noted in 2b). OTS, WHEN ACTING

 AS THE CHURCH'S AGENT IS IN EFFECT ACTING AS A BANK. THERE IS NO 'LIABILITY' TO

 DEPOSIT FUNDS IN THE BANK. As long as you maintain a credit balance the 'bank'

 will make whatever disbursements you authorize out of the 'account.' They have

 no say at all in telling you what you have to deposit. THAT IS BASICALLY THE

 RELATIONSHIP OF THE CHURCH TO OTS. * * * (Capitalization added.)

  What appears to be happening is this. It appears that initially the Charter

 Mission expenses were deducted on the *485 Forms 990 probably on the basis

 of the story concocted in 1969 that OTC was providing supportive services to

 Flag. Petitioner has now changed its story. It now argues that OTC is merely a

 private 'bank' for petitioner. It therefore concedes that the Charter Mission

 payments are not deductible since deposits in banks are not expenses, but

 claims it should be allowed a deduction for the actual expenses incurred by

 Flag in 1970 in the amount of $419,856.76.

  Before addressing this issue we digress briefly to point out the flaws in

 petitioner's new story about OTC. First, it is nonsensical. According to

 petitioner's story, OTC was in constant debt to petitioner since it continually

 transferred to OTC sums far in excess of what was currently needed by it to

 meet its alleged expenses. By petitioner's own admission, the balance OTC owed

 to petitioner increased during each of the docketed years. It is here that the

 logic of petitioner's story breaks down. After all, why would petitioner leave

 increasingly large sums in control of a commercial Panamanian corporation

 without any provision for interest and also pay it finance charges if it were

 truly independent? Second, OTC did not act as a banker for petitioner. The

 evidence is overwhelming that petitioner's employees handled the Church's

 finances. This is so because as far as the record discloses OTC had no offices,

 officers or employees with which to perform financial services for petitioner.

  We turn now to petitioner's claim that respondent erred in not allowing

 petitioner to deduct Flag's operating expenses of $419,856.76 for 1970.

 Petitioner bears the burden of proving the amount of allowable Flag expenses

 for that year. We cannot accept petitioner's records as trustworthy. In 1969

 petitioner engaged in a plan to cover up OTC's relationship to petitioner. In

 pursuit of this plan records were manufactured and falsified to show

 petitioner's branch churches in debt to OTC for support services. In April and

 May of 1975, shortly before the 1971-1974 audit began, petitioner again engaged

 in a project to falsify Flag records to present to the IRS. During the 1971-

 1974 audit IRS auditors made repeated requests for substantiation that OTC

 expenditures were made on petitioner's behalf. Church officials did not comply.

 Instead they offered a variety of excuses including a claim that Church

 activities aboard the Apollo were funded essentially through *486 cash

 expenditures. This evidence casts severe doubts on whether any of the Flag

 expenditures were actually incurred. Petitioner has, therefore, failed to

 satisfy its burden of proof. We are not at liberty to redetermine the amount of

 deductible Flag expenditures incurred during the tax years 1971 and 1972 since

 respondent has not seen fit to disturb his allowance of the amounts set forth.

 However, we do find that respondent correctly disallowed such expenditures for

 1970 and that, in reality, the actual allowable expenditures for 1971 and 1972

 should probably be substantially less than those allowed by respondent.

  A third major area of disagreement between the parties is the proper tax

 treatment of the payments made by petitioner to the United States Churches of

 Scientology Trust. These payments were deducted by petitioner and were

 designated as payments to the Central Defense and Dissemination Fund and

 amounted to $28,930.34 in 1970, $67,892.40 in 1971, and $77,986.62 in 1972. In

 his notice of deficiency, respondent disallowed these deductions in full,

 stating:

   It is determined that the payments to the Central Defense and Dissemination

 Fund (United States Churches of Scientology Trust) are not allowable as

 deductions under IRS section 162.

  In its petition, petitioner contests this disallowance on the ground that such

 payments to the Trust were reasonable and necessary expenses. However, on

 brief, petitioner apparently concedes that such payments are not deductible if

 it is judged not be tax exempt, although petitioner does assert that the

 payments were in furtherance of its exempt purpose. We do not agree.

  The facts surrounding the United States Churches of Scientology Trust, which

 are set out in detail in our findings of fact, can only be described as

 bizarre. Some of the more incredible are recited again here. To begin with,

 although the Trust purportedly originated in 1962, there was no trust document

 until June 25, 1973. Also financial statements were not prepared for the Trust

 during the docketed years. Furthermore, although the Trust was purportedly a

 United States trust, it was administered in England and the financial

 statements which were belatedly prepared in 1973 were prepared in South Africa.

 The purported purpose of the Trust *487 was the defense of the United States

 Churches of Scientology. However, there was only one disbursement for such

 purpose in the amount of $9,290.47 although the Trust had accumulated funds of

 $812,134.51, $930,400.08 and $1,307,237.26 in 1970, 1971 and 1972,

 respectively, and although USGO spent substantially greater amounts for legal

 fees during the docketed years. The trust funds were not invested. They were

 kept in numbered Swiss bank accounts. L. Ron Hubbard was the sole trustee and

 generally kept the trust checkbooks. According to petitioner's worksheets, in

 1972 over $1 million in trust funds was removed from some of these accounts and

 placed in a locked file cabinet on the Apollo where they were allegedly kept

 until 1975. Mary Sue Hubbard supposedly had the only key. The circumstances of

 this trust are just too bizarre to credit its validity. Petitioner has not

 carried its burden. We therefore find that respondent correctly disallowed

 petitioner's claimed expenses for the Central Defense and Dissemination Fund

 for the tax years in question.

  The final area of disagreement between the parties centers on the proper tax

 treatment to be accorded the payments received by petitioner from the Danish

 Kingdom Church and United Kingdom Church. In his notice of deficiency,

 respondent included in petitioner's income payments from these churches as

 follows:



 Year  DK payment received  UK payment received



 1971         $77.92            $76,497.24

 1972      53,609.76            161,018.38



  However, petitioner contested the inclusion of these amounts in its income,

 stating that these funds were actually received by OTC and represented debt

 repayment.

  For his part, respondent now contends on brief that since the United Kingdom

 Church, both in form and in substance, was a branch of petitioner, such

 payments were merely internal transfers, which, by definition, cannot be either

 debt repayment or income. Furthermore, respondent states that the same is also

 undoubtedly true of the Danish Kingdom Church.

  With respect to the Danish Kingdom Church, we cannot find from the record in

 this case that it was in actuality a branch of petitioner. On the other hand,

 petitioner has not satisfied us *488 that a bona fide debt from the Danish

 Kingdom Church to OTC actually existed. Consequently, we find that respondent

 correctly included such amounts in petitioner's income in its notice of

 deficiency.

  The same is not true for the payments from the United Kingdom Church. In light

 of our finding that the United Kingdom Church was in actuality merely a branch

 of petitioner, respondent is correct in his assertion on brief that the

 payments from the United Kingdom Church to OTC merely represent internal

 transfers and are, thus, not properly included in petitioner's income.

  Having resolved the contested items in the notice of deficiency, we are now in

 a position to calculate petitioner's net income during the docketed years. By

 petitioner's own admission, the United Kingdom Church, during the docketed

 years, had net income of $299,681 in 1970, $796,417 in 1971 and $816,572 in

 1972. Subtracting the United Kingdom Church payments and adding the United

 Kingdom Church's net taxable income to petitioner's other income, we find that

 petitioner's net income for the tax years in question was not less than

 $1,494,615.53 in 1970, $881,131.18 in 1971, and $1,707,287.17 in 1972.

 Additionally, there is considerable evidence in the record that the true income

 of petitioner was substantially in excess of those amounts. For example, during

 trial John McLean testified that in 1972 the average WEEKLY income of U.S.

 Scientology organizations controlled by Flag was about $1 million and ranged as

 high as $1,400,000 during that year. Annualizing such weekly amounts would

 result in a figure in the $50-70 million range, an amount which obviously

 dwarfs the income reported by petitioner on its informational return for 1972.

 Furthermore, our finding that OTC is merely a front for petitioner, along with

 our recognition that the massive cash reserves held by OTC actually belong to

 petitioner, certainly raises the project that petitioner had millions of

 dollars of unreported income. However, even disregarding these indications of

 vast undisclosed profits, we find the amount of petitioner's determinable

 profits in the docketed years to be substantial. The existence of these

 substantial profits, when viewed in light of the commercial nature of

 petitioner's operations, lends additional support *489 to our finding that

 petitioner was operated in furtherance of a substantial commercial purpose.

  The remaining factor supporting our finding is the existence of substantial

 reserves. Several cases have recognized this factor as indicative of a

 commercial purpose. See B.S.W. Group, Inc. v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. 352,

 357 (1978); Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel Worker Society v. United

 States, 510 F.Supp. 374, 378-379 (D.D.C. 1981), affd. without opinion 672

 F.2d 894 (D.C. Cir. 1981), cert. denied 456 U.S. 944 (1982); Parker v.

 Commissioner, 365 F.2d 792, 798 (8th Cir. 1966), cert. denied 385 U.S.

 1026 (1967).

  In the instant case, the record is replete with evidence that petitioner was

 obsessed not only with making money but also with building up massive cash

 reserves. In HCO PL March 9, 1972, MS OEC 381, L. Ron Hubbard wrote the

 following:

   If a management unit such as a Bureaux, a Continental Liaison Office, an OT-

 Liaison Office or any agent thereof such as a Guardian or FBO or Flag Rep is

 any good, THE NEAREST SERVICE ORG WILL MAKE AMPLE MONEY TO PAY the managing

 unit and HAVE LOTS LEFT OVER TO SWELL SO Reserves. (Emphasis in original.)

  In this same policy letter, L. Ron Hubbard defined 'SO Reserves' as follows'

   SO RESERVES: Often miscalled 'Flag Reserves' or 'Management Reserves' which

 they are NOT. SO Reserves are: The amount of money collected for the

 corporation over and above expenses that is sent by various units (via FBOs and

 the Finance Network) to the corporation's Banks. It is used for purposes

 assigned by the BOARD OF DIRECTORS and for NO OTHER PURPOSE. These are normally

 employed for periods of stress or to handle situations. They are NOT profit. It

 is NOT support money for 'Flag' or 'Management.' It is NOT operating money

 (Examples: Huge sums were required to cover WW when under attack and to catch

 the PUBS 1970 crash.) (Emphasis in original.)

  This policy letter illustrates petitioner's fervor for building cash reserves.

 More importantly for this case, petitioner's accumulations matched its fervor.

 In just two months in 1971 Sea Org Reserves swelled by $270,175. The bulk of

 petitioner's reserves were held in 16 active bank accounts maintained in the

 name of OTC. The year-end balances on these accounts were $1,772,981.72 in

 1970, $2,042,832.04 in 1971, and $2,561,688.98 in 1972. Petitioner also

 accumulated reserves in *490 the sham United States Churches of Scientology

 Trust. By year's end in 1972 the Trust had accumulated funds totalling

 $1,307,237.26. Approximately 6 months later this balance had grown to

 $1,998,343.08. Petitioner also kept cash reserves aboard the Apollo. In 1968

 and 1969 the ship's cash reserves fluctuated between $50,000 and $200,000. In

 1972 slightly over $3 million in cash from the OTC and trust accounts was

 stored on board the ship. The total amount of petitioner's reserves for the

 docketed years is shrouded in mystery. Whatever the exact amount, it is clear

 that the accumulated reserves were substantial. [FN68]

  In conclusion, petitioner's highly commercial method of operations, its high

 annual profits and its substantial, undedicated cash reserves convince us that

 it had a substantial commercial purpose. B.S.W. Group, Inc. v. Commissioner,

 supra; Parker v. Commissioner, supra.

  Petitioner offered several justifications for its large reserves. Petitioner

 claimed that they were needed to purchase a land base for petitioner's

 operations; to protect the Church from its many foes; and to pay the Church's

 tax liability in the event it lost its battle for tax-exempt status. It is true

 that many years later the Church did secure land headquarters in Clearwater,

 Florida. Also, no doubt, the Church needed money to protect itself from its

 detractors. Finally, since the IRS revoked the Church's tax-exempt status in

 1967, there was a strong likelihood it would have to pay taxes.

  However, the bulk of the evidence in the record undermines the legitimacy of

 these justifications, so that we have no difficulty in concluding that the

 reserves were accumulated to make money for the Church and its leaders. Thus,

 although the Church eventually secured land headquarters, this was done several

 years after the reserves were built up. Furthermore, the Church failed to

 introduce any evidence of the cost of the new headquarters in Clearwater,

 Florida or that reserves were used to pay for the premises. We also note that,

 although the purported purpose of the Trust was the defense of Scientology,

 only one small disbursement was made for this purpose during the docketed

 years. The Church presented no evidence that the amount of its reserves bore

 any relationship to its anticipated needs. These facts alone cast doubt on the

 Church's stated reasons for accumulating reserves. However, what compels us

 further to conclude that the Church's justifications are mere pretense is the

 manner in which the reserves were maintained. They belonged to a bogus trust

 and a sham corporation and were mostly held in cash and numbered Swiss bank

 accounts. Under these facts the Church has not carried its burden in

 demonstrating that the reserves were accumulated to further its tax-exempt

 purposes.

  In light of our conclusion, we need not decide whether we concur in the Third

 Circuit's reversal in Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Co. v. Commissioner,

 supra.

                                     *491 V.

  Respondent asserts, and we agree, that petitioner fails to qualify for tax-

 exempt status because a portion of its net earnings inured to the benefit of

 private individuals. In order to qualify for tax-exempt status under section

 501(c)(3), not only must an organization establish that it is organized and

 operated exclusively for exempt purposes, but it must also prove that no part

 of its net earnings inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or

 individual. The term 'private shareholder or individual' is defined in section

 1.501(a)-1(c), Income Tax Regs., as a person having a personal and private

 interest in the activities of an organization. It does not refer to unrelated

 third parties. People of God Community v. Commissioner, 75 T.C. 127, 133

 (1980). In other words, the inurement prohibition under section 501(c)(3)

 denies exempt status to an organization whose founders or controlling members

 have a personal stake in that organization's receipts.

  Basically the thrust of the concept of private inurement is to ensure that an

 exempt charitable organization is serving a public and not a private interest.

 See Baltimore Health and Welfare Fund v. Commissioner, 69 T.C. 554 (1978);

 Callaway Family Association, Inc. v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 340 (1978). Thus,

 if part of the net earnings of an organization, no matter what its purpose,

 inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, tax exemption

 under section 501(c)(3) will not be allowed. An organization bears the burden

 of proving that it is not operated for the benefit of private interests such as

 that of the founder or his family. Basic Bible Church v. Commissioner, 74

 T.C. 846 (1980).

  The term 'net earnings' includes more than net profits and they may inure to

 an individual in more ways than in the distribution of dividends. Unitary

 Mission Church v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 507 (1980), affd. in an unpublished

 opinion, 647 F.2d 163 (2d Cir. 1981). For example, we have found that the

 paying over of a portion of gross earnings to those vested with control of a

 charitable organization constitutes private inurement. People of God Community

 v. Commissioner, supra. Additionally, the amount or extent of such benefit

 is not determinative of a finding of private inurement. Church of the

 Transfiguring Spirit, Inc. v. Commissioner, 76 T.C. 1, 5 (1981).

 *492 Thus, the fact that the benefit conveyed may be relatively small does

 not change the basic fact of inurement. Founding Church of Scientology v.

 United States, 188 Ct.Cl. 490, 497, 412 F.2d 1197, 1200 (1969), cert.

 denied 397 U.S. 1009 (1970).

  In the instant case, there can be no question that L. Ron Hubbard and his

 family are clearly private shareholders or individuals within the meaning of

 section 501(c)(3). [FN69] During the tax years at issue, the obvious indicia of

 benefit to L. Ron Hubbard and his family include salaries, directors fees,

 management fees, complete support of the family, and royalties; while convert

 indicia of benefit include repayment of alleged debts in unspecified amounts

 and unfettered control over millions of dollars in funds purportedly belonging

 to OTC and the United States Churches of Scientology Trust.

  During the tax years at issue, L. Ron Hubbard and Mary Sue Hubbard received

 salaries from petitioner totaling $20,249.27 in 1970, $49,647.61 in 1971, and

 $115,679.76 in 1972. We recognize that the payment of reasonable salaries by an

 allegedly tax-exempt organization does not result in the inurement of net

 earnings to the benefit of private individuals. However, excessive salaries do

 result in inurement of benefit. Founding Church of Scientology v. United

 States, supra. The burden falls upon petitioner to establish the

 reasonableness of the compensation paid to L. Ron and Mary Sue Hubbard.

 Bubbling Well Church of Universal Love, Inc. v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 531,

 538 (1980), affd. 670 F.2d 104 (9th Cir. 1981). In the instant case, the

 salaries paid by petitioner to L. Ron and Mary Sue Hubbard are far from

 shocking. We are puzzled, however, by the increase in salaries in 1972 over

 1971 since the record does not disclose what additional job responsibilities L.

 Ron and Mary Sue Hubbard undertook in 1972 to precipitate the increase.

 Furthermore, the salary payments are but the tip of the iceberg of the total

 benefits actually received by them. For example, L. Ron Hubbard, Mary Sue

 Hubbard, and their four children resided for the most part aboard the Apollo.

 While aboard ship, petitioner paid the family's living and medical expenses.

  L. Ron Hubbard also received royalty payments in connection with petitioner's

 sales of books and E-meters. We, of *493 course, do not dispute an author's

 right to receive compensation in the form of royalties for his literary works.

 However, this does not mean that an individual can use a tax-exempt

 organization that he clearly controls, as is the case with L. Ron Hubbard and

 petitioner, to market his own works. Undoubtedly, it was this type of self-

 dealing that the prohibition against inurement under section 501(c)(3) was

 enacted to ban. For although it may indeed be common, as petitioner asserts,

 for an author to receive royalties of 10 percent on the sales of his

 copyrighted works, in a normal commercial setting, it is the publisher and not

 the author who establishes the price for which the books are ultimately sold.

 However, in the instant case, it was L. Ron Hubbard who personally controlled

 what amount he received on each book and E-meter sale through his setting of

 the price that petitioner charged for each item, and as we have previously

 found, such prices were well above cost. Additionally, it is uncontroverted

 that the majority of ASHO PUB's sales of E-meters and books upon which

 royalties were paid to the account of L. Ron Hubbard were to other Scientology

 churches, including branches of petitioner. The combination of L. Ron Hubbard's

 first contracting with petitioner, to sell his books and E-meters in exchange

 for royalty payments, then his pushing the sales of such books and E-meters

 through his own policy letters, and finally his establishment of the prices of

 such items and the fact that the majority of sales were to petitioner's

 branches and other Scientology churches certainly constitutes a flagrant case

 of self-dealing, which clearly benefited L. Ron Hubbard personally and thus

 constitutes inurement.

  Not only did L. Ron Hubbard receive royalty payments on his own works, but he

 also received royalties attributable to the literary efforts of some of

 petitioner's other employees. It was a long-standing policy of petitioner that

 all works involving Scientology had to be copyrighted to L. Ron Hubbard. This

 policy was articulated by L. Ron Hubbard in HCO PL of November 15, 1958, 1 OEC

 13-14, as follows:

   SIMILARLY, ANY BOOK ON DIANETICS AND SCIENTOLOGY MUST BE COPYRIGHTED IN THE

 NAME OF L. RON HUBBARD and the copyright becomes the property of HCO. No

 copyright of anything must ever be permitted to escape. In the case of its

 having been done (a book on the subject copyrighted in the name of someone or

 something else) HCO Secretary in the area must request an *494 assignment of

 copyright to L. Ron Hubbard from its present owner and must be tireless and

 remorseless in getting the copyright, using any available means at whatever

 cost.

   Similarly and trademark, registered mark, or patent for any sign, symbol,

 shield, device or design for Dianetics or Scientology or their organizations

 must be secured for HCO. All these are registered to L. Ron Hubbard and by

 blanket transfer are the property of HCO only. The name in which it is done is

 L. Ron Hubbard; the owner is then HCO.

   Don't let one seal, one copyright, one design, one device, or even the names

 Dianetics and Scientology escape you on this. All the money you need to hire

 experts, lawyers, artists and pay fees is yours for the asking from the main

 office of HCO. Just ask. (Emphasis added.)

  Pursuant to this policy a number of publications copyrighted by L. Ron Hubbard

 were actually written by others. For example, Ruth Mitchell wrote the book

 'Know Your People,' and Peter Gillum wrote the book 'How to Be Successful';

 however, both books were copyrighted by L. Ron Hubbard. Additionally, numerous

 policy letters contained in the OEC were actually written by paid employees of

 petitioner with L. Ron Hubbard's approval. Nevertheless, despite the fact that

 L. Ron Hubbard did not personally author the entire nine-volume set, he did

 receive royalty payments on the sale of this publication.

  Without addressing the legality of copyrighting materials and receiving

 royalty payments on the works of others, we find the policy of using paid

 employees of an organization to write materials that are then copyrighted to

 the organization's founder and upon which he receives royalties to be a clear

 use of an organization for a private, as opposed to a public, purpose--the crux

 of a finding of inurement.

  The record reveals glimpses of other self-dealing transactions in addition to

 L. Ron Hubbard's receipt of royalties from literature published, sold, and

 sometimes, even written, by petitioner. For example, a portion of the debt

 allegedly owned by petitioner. For example, a portion of the debt allegedly

 owned by petitioner to L. Ron Hubbard during the tax years in question arose

 from his sale in 1966 of the St. Hill Manor to petitioner. Although we know

 from petitioner that the sale price in that transaction was 79,410.5.6 pounds,

 petitioner has failed to introduce any evidence as to the fair market value of

 *495 St. Hill at the tie of the sale or the reason why petitioner needed L.

 Ron Hubbard's specific property. However, there is unrebutted evidence in the

 record that L. Ron Hubbard represented to the British Government on a statement

 of his assets to the Inland Revenue as of April 1966 that the value of this

 property was only 17,707.7.6 pounds--an amount less than one-fourth the

 eventual sales price. Admittedly, we do not really know what the actual fair

 market value of St. Hill was at the time of the sale. However, in light of the

 degree of control which L. Ron Hubbard maintained over petitioner and the fact

 that the debt arising from this transaction was apparently being serviced

 during the docketed years, absolute full disclosure of all facts relevant to

 such sale is in order.

  In sum, the total value of the overt benefits received by the Hubbards during

 the tax years at issue in living expenses, and from salaries and royalties was

 several hundred thousand dollars. These payments are substantial. When viewed

 in light of the self-dealing that transpired, they prove conclusively that

 petitioner was operated for the private benefit of L. Ron Hubbard and his

 family. However, we need not rest our conclusion on this evidence alone since

 the record also abounds with indicia of convert inurement.

  Probably he most covert form of compensation paid to L. Ron Hubbard was

 tithes (or a percentage of gross income) which petitioner and other Scientology

 organizations routed to him in the guise of 'Founding Debt Payments.' Although

 petitioner failed to produce a single witness who credibly testified about

 these payments, and we are thus left somewhat in the dark regarding the actual

 amounts and duration of such payments during the docketed years, there is

 considerable evidence in the record that these payments did indeed take place.

 A trail of documentary evidence shows that Scientology organizations began

 making these alleged debt repayments in the 1960s. In HCO PL December 21, 1965,

 3 OEC 51, L. Ron Hubbard remonstrated all Scientology organizations for their

 failure to keep proper records of their debts to him for his past services in

 establishing Scientology. He directed the organizations to correct their

 records and to set up a system in the Office of LRH for keeping track of these

 debts and collecting payments. L. Ron Hubbard went on to state that the reason

 for these policies stemmed from the IRS's actions against the *496 Founding

 Church of Scientology. That controversy was eventually litigated in the Court

 of Claims. In finding that the net earnings of the Founding Church inured to

 the benefit of L. Ron Hubbard, the Court of Claims found that from 1957 on, L.

 Ron Hubbard was paid, in lieu of salary, 10 percent of the gross income of the

 Founding Church and of other Scientology congregations, franchises and

 organizations, and that '(s)uch an arrangement suggests a franchise network for

 private profit.' Founding Church of Scientology v. United States, 188 Ct.Cl.

 490, 494, 498, 412 F.2d 1197, 1199, 1201 (1969), cert. denied 397 U.S.

 1009 (1970). Thus, HCO PL of December 21, 1965, 3 OEC 51, was apparently issued

 in realization of the fact that the current scheme of compensating L. Ron

 Hubbard placed Scientology churches in a dangerous tax position. However,

 although the payments made to L. Ron Hubbard from that time on certainly

 differed in form, it appears that they differed little in substance.

  HCO PL December 21, 1965, 3 OEC 51, marks the beginning of a documentary trail

 that leads through the tax years in issue. HCO PL June 25, 1967, 3 OEC 63,

 repeated L. Ron Hubbard's instructions to record debts owed to him. Flag Order

 773 issued on May 25, 1968 ordered the removal of staff who incorrectly handled

 debt repayment to L. Ron Hubbard and as a result exposed him to greater income

 tax liability. FBO correspondence between Flag and AOLA in 1968 and 1969

 discussed L. Ron Hubbard debt repayment (sometimes called 'LRH RR' or LRH 10).

 A 1968 LETTER DISCUSSED THE NEED TO BUILD UP CASH RESERVES ABOARD THE APOLLO,

 IN PART, TO REPAY L. RON HUBBARD QUICKLY. FBO CORRESPONDENCE IN MARCH 1969

 CONCERNED WAYS TO SEND LOAN REPAYMENT TITHES FROM AOLA TO L. RON HUBBARD, THEN

 ON BOARD THE APOLLO, IN A NEGOTIABLE FORM OTHER THAN DOLLARS TO AVOID POSSIBLE

 LOSSES FROM A FEARED DEVALUATION OF THE DOLLAR. THESE REFERENCES TO THE ALLEGED

 DEBT REPAYMENT WHICH PEPPER THE RECORD CONVINCE US THAT L. RON HUBBARD WAS

 PERSONALLY RECEIVING A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE--IN MOST CASES 10 PERCENT--OF

 PETITIONER'S AND OTHER SCIENTOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS' GROSS INCOME IN THE LATE

 1960S.

  These loan repayments continued in the docketed years. The official story with

 respect to these payments is detailed in HCO PL September 7, 1972, which

 states:

           *497 'REPAYMENT OR DUE MONEY COLLECTED FOR LRH PERSONALLY.'

                                  WHAT IS OWED

   For years, public have thought or been told that the income of orgs goes to

 Ron, but this has never been true.

   Quite the reverse, Ron's personal income and capital - even Veterans checks

 and Author's royalties have been invoiced and used by orgs.

   The entire Technology of Dianetics and Scientology have been used by orgs

 without reimbursement to Ron for research or development, nor even repayment

 for out of pocket expenses.

   Where such payments have been made records will show that they were usually

 not received by LRH but that they too were invoiced and used by orgs and remain

 a debt of the Church in most cases.

   The Saint Hill Organization, piloted and built and made prosperous by LRH

 personally, now belongs to the Church of Scientology of California, but has

 never been paid for.

   The name 'L. Ron Hubbard', an asset worth millions in goodwill and high

 credit rating, is used by all Scientology organizations but has not been paid

 for.

   In the early years, the personal funds of LRH guaranteed org overdrafts and

 even loaned orgs money. Income from ACC's (Advanced Clinical Courses, taught by

 LRH) rightfully due to LRH were instead received and used by orgs.

   Very little of the sums due have been repaid.

                               ORG BALANCE SHEETS

   Many orgs have invoiced LRH personal income as 'their own income'. This gives

 them a raised INCOME. But it was not their money and is actually a DEBT owed to

 LRH. Balance sheets of the orgs, particularly in the tax matters, therefore

 show inflated income when a debt exists.

   It is to the interest of all orgs that their balance sheets be correct. It is

 therefore incumbent upon them to furnish proper service in LRH collections.

                                   COLLECTION

   The post of LRH ACCOUNTS OFFICER is being established in the personal Office

 of LRH at Flag, directly under LRH Pers Comm Flag.

   LRH Accounts will provide LRH Comms with monthly statements showing monies

 owed and payments made, and will set weekly payments targets for LRH Comms to

 meet.

   The routing of all payments and correspondence is direct to LRH accts, via

 the Cont'l FOLO as a mail relay point.

                         LRH GOODWILL REPAYMENT ACCOUNT

   Orgs having an LRH GOODWILL REPAYMENT ACCOUNT may use it to begin payments or

 to supplement current income in meeting their weekly payment target.

                                 *498 OIC CABLE

   As OIC cable format is subsequently updated the second stat of the LRH Comm

 will eventually be included. Meanwhile the OIC cable remains as currently but

 the collection stat of each LRH Comm will be graphed at Flag based on amounts

 actually received and date of receipt, and graphed locally by amount and date

 when sent.

                                 LRH COMM DUTIES

   Any friction or opposition encountered by LRH Comms in obtaining repayment or

 collection of monies due must be reported with full factual details of WHO and

 WHAT to LRH Accts Flag.

   Hat material on duties and functions relating to this collection statistic

 will be issued from time to time, as the post of LRH Accts is further

 established and developed.

   However it will be found that a demand to meet the target, backed up by

 standard LRH Comm functions to get LRH Technology and Policy known and used

 correctly, will keep GI up trended and make it easy for the LRH Comm to keep

 his collection stat rising as well.

                                    EXCHANGE

   The exchange factor in this is very simple and direct. To the degree that the

 LRH Comm gets LRH Technology and Policy known and used he will be able to make

 increasing repayment for it from the org to Ron, as the org will prosper and do

 well.

   So STARTs And good luck to you with your new stats

   LRH Accounts Officer and

   LRH Pers Comm

   by order of

   L. Ron Hubbard

   FOUNDER

  This policy letter clearly establishes that payments, other than salary and

 royalties, were being made by petitioner to L. Ron Hubbard under the guise of

 debt repayments. Additionally, it is obvious from this policy letter that the

 so-called debt repayments were not just for money advanced by L. Ron Hubbard to

 petitioner but were also compensation for L. Ron Hubbard's past work in

 developing Scientology and for the use of his name. Petitioner has not produced

 any evidence of bona fide indebtedness, and it is clear from the record that

 there was no recognized debt which had been negotiated between petitioner and

 L. Ron Hubbard but rather a continuing obligation to make payments based on

 petitioner's total receipts. [FN70]

  *499 Petitioner denies such payments existed and asserts that HCO PL

 September 7, 1972 was cancelled two days later by another policy letter.

 However, not only is the document allegedly cancelling the quoted policy letter

 self-serving, but it is totally impeached by the testimony of John McLean and

 Eugene Endo who both testified that such debt repayments continued to be made

 long after the purported cancellation. Indeed, petitioner's own financial

 records for the period October 9, 1972 to December 28, 1972 indicate that

 payments designated either 'LRH Repayments,' 'Founding Debt Payment,' or 'Per

 HCO Policy Letter 7 Sept. 72,' totalling $19,324.41 were made during this

 period. [FN71] We thus find that the weight of the evidence clearly indicates

 that HCO PL September 7, 1972 was adhered to long after its alleged

 cancellation. It is, therefore, apparent that, although Scientology

 organizations rearranged their forms of payment to L. Ron Hubbard during the

 tax years in question, L. Ron Hubbard was still continuing to receive a

 percentage of their gross income.

  Finally, although the apparent existence of an arrangement whereby all

 Scientology organizations funneled a percentage of their gross income to L. Ron

 Hubbard under the guise of debt repayment certainly constitutes evidence of

 inurement on a grand scale, probably the most blatant source of covert

 inurement to L. Ron Hubbard in the present case is the complete control that he

 exercised over the millions of dollars transferred to OTC and the United States

 Churches of Scientology Trust.

  During the docketed years, L. Ron Hubbard had complete control of the United

 States Churches of Scientology Trust which in 1972 had accumulated earnings of

 $1,307,237.26. Our finding that the Trust was not legitimate creates a

 presumption, left unrebutted, that L. Ron Hubbard privately benefited from the

 trust's funds.

  With respect to OTC we observe that, even were we to believe petitioner's

 story that OTC was a truly independent *500 corporation, we would

 nevertheless have to conclude that OTC's use of petitioner's funds constitutes

 inurement. OTC was a non-tax-exempt corporation. According to petitioner it was

 constantly in debt to petitioner for huge sums of money. As petitioner's

 banker, this arrangement is best characterized as an interest-free loan.

  In Hancock Academy of Savannah, Inc. v. Commissioner, 69 T.C. 488 (1977),

 we found the existence of private inurement where a non-profit corporation,

 formed to take over the educational functions of a non-tax-exempt corporation,

 required parents of its students to make interest-free loans to the non-tax-

 exempt corporation. In that case we held that the interest-free feature of the

 loans was an unwarranted benefit to private individuals. We find the rationale

 of Hancock Academy equally applicable to the case at bar. If OTC had truly been

 independent, then certainly the huge sums transferred to it by petitioner

 constituted inurement to private individuals. See also Founding Church of

 Scientology v. United States, supra. ('Indeed, the very existence of a

 private source of loan credit from an organization's earnings may itself amount

 to inurement of benefit.' 188 Ct.Cl. at 499, 412 F.2d at 1202.)

  We do not, however, credit petitioner's story that OTC was independent. It was

 a sham corporation controlled by L. Ron Hubbard.

  Petitioner's burden of proof with respect to inurement in this case is of

 necessity a heavy one. Where one individual is dominant in an organization,

 'there exists the opportunity for abuse which, in turn, evinces a need for open

 and candid disclosure of all the facts.' Basic Bible Church v. Commissioner,

 74 T.C. 846, 858 (1980). In the instant case, however, petitioner has been

 less than open and candid and has failed totally in carrying its burden of

 proof with respect to both OTC and the Trust.

  Several key Scientology officials were noticeably absent from the trial. L.

 Ron Hubbard did not testify, although he was the Church's leader, was a

 signatory on all Church and OTC accounts, and allegedly held sums of money in

 trust for petitioner. [FN72] Mary Sue Hubbard did not testify although she

 *501 was the senior person on the Aides Council, commanded the International

 Guardian Network, and held the only set of keys to the Apollo strongroom where

 millions of dollars belonging to OTC and the Trust were stored. Greenberg, the

 California Church's accountant, did not testify although he coordinated the

 1971-1974 audit on behalf of the Church, allegedly counted on February 23, 1975

 the OTC money kept aboard the Apollo, and prepared petitioner's tax returns for

 the docketed years. [FN73] Mary Rezzonico did not testify although she served

 as Greenberg's assistant during the 1971-74 audit and was invested with the

 power of attorney to represent the California Church before the IRS on all

 matters and all years. H.A. Ross did not appear although he was the auditor of

 the trust accounts for the docketed years. Neither Fred Hare nor Vicki Polimeni

 testified although they were the Church officials who allegedly transported the

 trust funds from Switzerland to the Apollo. We stop here although there were

 others who were privy to facts and transactions of critical importance to the

 issues in this case, particularly concerning the Trust and OTC, who did not

 testify.

  Petitioner also failed to introduce important documentary evidence. The trust

 records were not produced although a file containing trust banking records and

 correspondence was allegedly maintained at the United Kingdom Church. The

 Church never produced records of OTC's expenditures, claiming OTC was a

 separate corporation over which it had no control and also claiming that the

 Swiss banks, where the OTC accounts were maintained, did not return cancelled

 checks. These claims were false. OTC was a separate corporation in name only.

 Furthermore, petitioner regularly received debit advices from the OTC accounts

 which provided the same information as would have been shown on a cancelled

 check. The ready availability of these debit advices is underscored by the fact

 that at least one Church witness reviewed them in Los Angeles before giving

 testimony. Finally, petitioner did not produce instructions called 'Flag

 Mission Orders' and reports *502 pertaining to the two trips to Switzerland

 to close out the OTC and trust accounts, although these records were preserved

 in a mission file maintained at Clearwater, Florida.

  The failure of a party to produce relevant evidence within its possession or

 control gives rise to the presumption that, if produced, it would be

 unfavorable. United States for the Use and Benefit of C.H. Benton, Inc. v.

 Roelof Construction Co., 418 F.2d 1328, 1332 (9th Cir. 1969); Malat v.

 Commissioner, 302 F.2d 700, 706 (9th Cir.), cert. denied 371 U.S. 934

 (1962), affg. 34 T.C. 365 (1960). This is especially true where the party

 failing to produce the evidence has the burden of proof. Witchita Terminal

 Elevator Co. v. Commissioner, 6 T.C. 1158, 1165 (1946), affd. 162 F.2d

 513 (10th Cir. 1947). The need for full and candid disclosure is also

 particularly great where a church is dominated by its founder since there is

 obvious opportunity for abuse of its tax-exempt status. Basic Bible Church v.

 Commissioner, 74 T.C. 846, 858 (1980); Bubbling Well Church of Universal

 Love, Inc. v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 531 (1980), affd. 670 F.2d 104 (9th

 Cir. 1981). In view of L. Ron Hubbard's unfettered control of the OTC and trust

 funds ranging in the millions of dollars, petitioner's failure to come forward

 with relevant evidence bearing on these holdings constitutes an overwhelming

 failure of proof. Consequently, we find petitioner was operated for the private

 benefit of L. Ron Hubbard and his family and that its net earnings inured to

 their benefit.

                                       VI.

  In a pretrial ruling we held that in order to qualify for exemption under

 section 501(c)(3) petitioner must meet the express conditions of that section

 and in addition must comply with fundamental notions of public policy. Our

 ruling anticipated the holding in Bob Jones University v. United States, 461

 U.S. 574, 103 S.Ct. 2017 (1983), which found that section 501(c)(3) was

 informed by charitable trust law and which read into the section a requirement

 that charitable organizations seeking to qualify for exemption from federally

 imposed taxes must serve a valid public purpose and confer a public benefit.

 103 S.Ct. at 2026-2027 n. 12.

   *503 (T)o warrant exemption under section 501(c)(3), an institution must

 fall within a category specified in that section and must demonstrably serve

 and be in harmony with the public interest. The institution's purpose must not

 be so at odds with the common community conscience as to undermine any public

 benefit that might otherwise be conferred.

  103 S.Ct. at 2029 (footnote omitted). Pursuant to our ruling respondent

 offered proof that petitioner did not satisfy this public policy requirement

 because it conspired to impede the IRS in performing its duty to determine and

 collect taxes from petitioner and other Scientology churches, a felony offense

 under 18 U.S.C. sec. 371. Petitioner contends that our construction of

 501(c)(3) impermissibly intrudes upon its associational rights and free

 exercise rights because there are less restrictive ways to purge petitioner's

 conduct than to withhold its exemption. [FN74] Petitioner suggests that the

 Government's interests could just as well be vindicated by prosecuting Church

 officials who broke the law as by penalizing the entire California Church and

 denying its tax exemption. Petitioner reminds us that the First Amendment

 principle of requiring the least restrictive means has a sympathetic chord in

 charitable trust law. 'If the purposes for which a charitable trust is created

 are legal, the *504 mere fact it would be possible to accomplish the

 purposes by illegal means does not make the charitable trust invalid.'

 Restatement (Second) of Trusts, sec. 377, Comment d (1959). This issue was also

 raised in a slightly different form in the Bob Jones University case. There the

 Court pondered what remedy should apply where an exempt organization confers

 some benefit but also violates a law.

   (W)e need not decide whether an organization providing a public benefit and

 otherwise meeting the requirements of section 501(c)(3) could nevertheless be

 denied tax-exempt status if certain of its activities violated a law or public

 policy.

  Bob Jones University v. United States, 103 S.Ct. at 2031 n. 21.

  It is axiomatic that a charitable trust is invalid if it is created for an

 illegal purpose. Restatement (Second of Trusts, sec. 377 (1959). Thus, a trust

 can be voided at the request of an interested party if trust property is used

 to perpetrate a crime defined by statute, or if the object of the trust is to

 defraud the Government or if its purpose is to evade taxes. 4 Scot, Trusts 377

 (3d ed. 1967); Bogert, The Law of Trusts and Trustees, sec. 211, pp. 63-64,

 114 (2d ed. 1979). See also Carriage Square, Inc. v. Commissioner, 69 T.C.

 119 (1977); Temple Square Mfg. Co. v. Commissioner, 36 T.C. 88 (1961).

 Respondent has conceded that petitioner's stated purposes, i.e., the purposes

 described in petitioner's organizing documents, are religious. However, to

 qualify for a charitable exemption, not just the stated purposes, but the

 actual purposes manifested through the organization's activities must further a

 charitable purpose. Sec. 1.501(c)(3) - 1(a), Income Tax Regs. This is a

 question of fact to be determined from all the circumstances. B.S.W. Group,

 Inc. v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. 352, 357 (1978); Pulpit Resource v.

 Commissioner, 70 T.C. 594, 602, 604 (1978); Parker v. Commissioner, 365

 F.2d 792, 795 (8th Cir. 1966), cert. denied 385 U.S. 1026 (1967).

  When we consider all the facts spread across the voluminous record in this

 case, we are left with the inescapable conclusion that one of petitioner's

 overriding purposes was to make money. We also conclude that criminal

 manipulation of the IRS to maintain its tax exemption (and the exemption of

 affiliated churches) was a crucial and purposeful element of

 *505 petitioner's financial planning. [FN75] We need not repeat in detail

 our findings regarding petitioner's efforts to block the IRS from

 investigating, determining and collecting taxes from petitioner and affiliated

 churches. The highlights of the conspiracy show its nature and scope.

  The conspiracy spanned 8 years beginning in 1969 and continuing at least until

 July 7, 1977 when the FBI, pursuant to a warrant, searched petitioner's

 premises for evidence of the conspiracy and related crimes. The scheme involved

 manufacturing and falsifying records to present to the IRS, burglarizing IRS

 offices and stealing Government documents, and subverting Government processes

 for unlawful purposes. For example, Freedom of Information Act requests were

 planned for the purpose of having the IRS amass records in one central place

 where they would be easier to steal. At first, petitioner's FBO network

 masterminded the conspiracy, developing plans to conceal that OTC was s sham by

 falsifying and manufacturing records. Later petitioner's Guardian Office, whose

 top officials served on petitioner's board of directors during the docketed

 years, directed the conspiracy. The Guardian Office developed plans to

 infiltrate the IRS and steal documents. Later it monitored the implementation

 of these plans.

  In pursuit of the conspiracy, petitioner filed false tax returns, burglarized

 IRS offices, stole IRS documents, and harassed, delayed, and obstructed IRS

 agents who tried to audit the Church's records. Petitioner gave false

 information to and concealed relevant information from the IRS about its

 corporate structure and relationship to OTC. In the end, Jane Kember, the

 Guardian Worldwide, acting just under L. Ron and Mary Sue Hubbard in

 petitioner's hierarchy, was convicted of burglarizing the offices of

 respondent's Exempt Organizations Division on three occasions in 1976. The

 burglaries occurred while an extensive audit of petitioner's records was in

 progress. Furthermore, Mary Sue Hubbard, Duke Snider, and Henning Heldt were

 convicted of conspiring to obstruct justice. Their convictions in part rested

 on their efforts to conceal petitioner's connection to burglaries of IRS

 offices and *506 the theft of IRS documents relating to this case. Mary Sue

 Hubbard was petitioner's second highest ranking official. Duke Snider was

 petitioner's president for part of 1975 and 1976. Henning Heldt was

 petitioner's vice-president during the docketed years.

  Petitioner's course of conduct between 1969 and 1977 constitutes a violation

 of 18 U.S.C. sec. 371 and convincingly shows that petitioner had a

 substantial illegal purpose during the docketed years. We are, therefore, faced

 with the question of what remedy to apply. Are we required by either the First

 Amendment or charitable trust principles to find that the Government's only

 remedy is a criminal prosecution? For a number of reasons, we think not.

 First, 18 U.S.C. sec. 371, which provides that it is a felony offense for

 two or more persons to conspire to defraud the United States or its agencies,

 is a venerable and major Federal criminal statute. It was first enacted as

 section 30 of 'An Act to amend existing laws relating to Internal Revenue and

 for other purposes' on March 2, 1867, 14 Stat. 471, 484, and has continued

 in effect almost in its present form ever since then. See United States v.

 Gradwell, 243 U.S. 476, 481 (1917). One has only to look at the numerous

 annotations which follow 18 U.S.C. sec. 371 in the United States Code

 Annotated to realize its importance in safeguarding our governmental functions.

 Second, petitioner's conspiratorial efforts were systemic and long lived.

 People in petitioner's FBO network, Guardian Office and affiliated churches

 were involved. Church officials at the highest level of the hierarchy, not just

 ordinary Church members, participated in the conspiracy. Indeed, some high

 Church officials were finally convicted for their illegal activities. Three

 held top-ranking positions in petitioner's hierarchy during the docketed years

 and four others held important positions in petitioner's Guardian Offices in

 later years. At least four of petitioner's branch churches were affected by the

 conspiracy. There were plans to manufacture and falsify records at Flag and

 AOLA. Also officials at Flag and the Guardian Offices in the United Kingdom and

 United States spearheaded the conspiracy. The conspiratorial plan knew no

 geographic boundaries. Guardian Order 1361 called for infiltrating and stealing

 documents from IRS offices in London, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. Third,

 the Government's interest in ferreting *507 out crime is not the only

 interest at stake here. The Government also has an interest in not subsidizing

 criminal activity. Were we to sustain petitioner's exemption, we would in

 effect be sanctioning petitioner's right to conspire to thwart the IRS at

 taxpayer's expense. We think such paradoxes are best left to Gilbert and

 Sullivan. Finally, under the statutory scheme, the denial of an exemption is

 not a permanent loss to petitioner. Only petitioner's 1970-1972 tax years are

 before us. Petitioner is free to show that it qualifies for exemption in

 subsequent years since each tax year is a separate cause of action.

 Commissioner v. Sunnen, 333 U.S. 591, 598 (1948).

  Petitioner states that in 1970, 1971, and 1972 it had no warning that public

 policy violations could lead to a denial of its tax-exempt status. Petitioner,

 therefore, claims respondent cannot, consistent with due process, invoke this

 requirement to deny its exemption. The public policy requirement is not

 strictly speaking a new provision. It is an implied condition of section

 501(c)(3). However, it has only recently been read into that section and it was

 not until the trial of this case was over that the requirement received Supreme

 Court sanction in Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574, 103

 S.Ct. 2017, decided May 24, 1983. The application of a public policy

 requirement to petitioner's operations during the taxable years at issue,

 therefore, has retroactive effect.

  Holding petitioner subject to public policy standards embodied in charitable

 trust law does not violate petitioner's right to due process. The application

 of this requirement to petitioner's operations calls into play a form of

 limited retroaction first discussed in United States v. Schooner Peggy, 5

 U.S. (1 Cranch) 103 (1801). There it was held that if a law changes while a

 case involving public rights is pending the new law must govern the case. 5

 U.S. (1 Cranch) at 110. This approach has been followed not only in

 instances where a statutory change has intervened, Carpenter v. Wabash Railway

 Co., 309 U.S. 23 (1940), but also where judicial decision has clarified or

 overruled earlier case law. Vandenbark v. Owens-Illinois Glass Co., 311 U.S.

 538 (1941); Oklahoma Packing Co. v. Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co., 309 U.S. 4,

 7-8 (1939). See also Linkletter v. Walker, 381 U.S. 618, 625-627 (1965).

  Petitioner's claim fails even when measured by general due process

 considerations in the area of retroactive law. The due *508 process clause

 does not make every retroactive law unconstitutional. Usery v. Turner Elkhorn

 Mining Co., 428 U.S. 1, 16 (1976); Welch v. Henry, 305 U.S. 134, 146

 (1938). A retroactive tax law offends the due process clause only when the

 nature of the tax and the circumstances in which it is laid leave little doubt

 that it is harsh and oppressive. Welch v. Henry, supra at 147; Hospital Data

 Center of S.C., Inc v. United States, 225 Ct.Cl. 158, 163, 634 F.2d 541,

 544 (1980). See also, Hazelwood Chronic & Convalescent Hospital, Inc. v.

 Weinberger, 543 F.2d 703, 708 (9th Cir. 1976), vacated on other grounds

 430 U.S. 952 (1977).

  Under the circumstances, we find that the retroactive application of the

 public policy requirement is neither harsh nor oppressive. First, petitioner

 had ample notice that it was against the law to conspire to obstruct the IRS.

 18 U.S.C. sec. 371 has been in effect for over 100 years. If the threat of

 criminal penalties was not sufficient to keep petitioner within the bounds of

 the law, it can hardly be supposed that petitioner would have acted differently

 had it known it would incur a tax liability for planning a campaign to thwart

 the IRS. Second, section 7605 places petitioner on notice that the Commissioner

 has broad authority to make tax rulings retroactive. Cf. Central Illinois

 Public Service Co. v. United States, 435 U.S. 21, 33 (1978) (Breenan, J.,

 concurring). Third, the public record belies petitioner's assertion that it did

 not have warning that it must comply with public policy standards to maintain

 its eligibility for exemption. In Rev. Rul. 67-325, 1967-2 C.B. 113,

 respondent stated his view that an organization which is not 'charitable in the

 generally accepted legal sense' does not qualify for section 501(c)(3) status.

 Rev. Rev. 67-325, supra at 117. Regulations in effect during the docketed years

 defining the term 'charitable' state the term is 'used * * * in its generally

 accepted legal sense.' See 26 C.F.R. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(2)(1970), (1971)

 and (1972). The Commissioner of the IRS was on record in 1970 as saying that an

 organization seeking exemption within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) must

 meet the test of being 'charitable' in the legal sense. Statement of Randolph

 W. Thrower, Commissioner of Internal Revenue, before the Senate Select

 Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity, 91st Cong., 2d Sess., August 12,

 1970 at 1995. Rev. Rul. 71-447, 1971-2 C.B. 230 states:

  *509 All charitable trusts * * * are subject to the requirement that the

 purpose of the trust may not be illegal or contrary to public policy.

  This same rule was also stated in Green v. Connally, 330 F.Supp. 1150,

 1159 (D.D.C.) decided on June 30, 1971 and affirmed per curiam sub nom. Coit v.

 Green, 404 U.S. 997 (1971). [FN76] Some, but not all, of these rulings were

 made in the context of determining whether racially discriminatory schools

 qualified for tax-exempt status since they violated Federal public policy

 against racial discrimination. We find this of little significance since the

 rule was stated broadly enough to throw into question petitioner's eligibility

 for exemption for violating 18 U.S.C. sec. 371. For all of the above

 reasons, we find that petitioner is not unduly injured by the retroactive

 application of public policy standards.

                                       VII

  Several of respondent's witnesses were former Scientologists. Petitioner

 challenges their credibility, claiming their disenchantment with the Church

 caused their testimony to be biased. This Court had ample opportunity to

 observe these witnesses. Most of them were questioned at length under cross-

 examination. With one exception this Court found all of them to be credible.

 The exception is Lauren Gene Allard. There were significant inconsistencies in

 his testimony and this Court has therefore only credited his testimony where it

 is corroborated by documentary evidence. The remaining ex-Scientologists were

 credible and markedly free of any tendency to be vindictive. Lorna Levett, a

 former Scientologist who had been in charge of a Scientology mission in Canada,

 admitted that she was disillusioned with Scientology. However, her

 disillusionment did not prevent her from giving candid and straightforward

 answers. Petitioner on brief did not point to any inconsistencies in her

 testimony, although she was cross-examined at length. Kathryn Kirsch was

 reluctant to testify and had to be subpoenaed. She worked in finance

 *510 positions at the Celebrity Center Church of Scientology during the

 docketed years and testified about instructions from her superiors regarding

 techniques to resist passively IRS inquiries. Her testimony was unimpeached.

 Scott Mayer, another former Scientologist, served as an unpaid consultant to

 respondent's counsel. During the course of the trial, at the request of

 respondent's counsel, he became a paid consultant. Mayer was in the courtroom

 throughout the trial and this Court, therefore, had ample opportunity to

 observe him both on and off the witness stand. Some of the details of his

 testimony regarding a 1975 project to falsify Church financial records were

 impeached, but the essentials of his story stood up under attack. On balance

 this Court found Mayer to be both truthful and well-informed.

  The most sterling witness among the many former Scientologists who testified

 was John McLean. Petitioner tried very hard to impeach his testimony since he

 had damaging things to say. He told about orders to falsify records, direct

 payments to L. Ron Hubbard, the removal of money from secret Swiss bank

 accounts and the Church's heavy emphasis on making money. Petitioner tried hard

 to impeach three collateral aspects of McLean's testimony: (1) that McLean

 travelled to join Flag in 1971 with a man named Foster Tompkins; (2) that Flag

 kept statistics on 'paid completions' in May 1971; and (3) that McLean's salary

 was suspended for a time as punishment.

  The impeachment failed. McLean testified that on his journey from Los Angeles

 to join the Flag ship in Tangier, Morocco he was met in New York by Foster

 Tompkins, who then accompanied him on his journey. Foster Tompkins testified as

 an impeachment witness. He said that he travelled from New York to Madrid and

 then on to Tangier but not with McLean. However, a passport and travel vouchers

 show that both men were at the Barajas Airport in Madrid on February 19, 1971.

 Furthermore, both men testified that on arrival in Madrid they went to a Flag

 outpost or relay point to meet with a man named David Rapp for a briefing. The

 similarities in the men's stories about their course of travel combined with

 the documentary evidence placing both men at the Madrid airport on the same day

 convince us of the truth of the gist of McLean's testimony. We find that the

 two men must have travelled from New York to the Flag outposts in Madrid

 *511 together, although it appears from other evidence that the men

 travelled separately on the very last leg of the journey from Madrid to the

 Apollo in Tangiers. The Church also tried to impeach McLean's story that his

 pay was temporarily suspended as punishment because Church money in his custody

 was stolen from him while he was on a Church mission. However, this testimony

 was corroborated by a Flag order dated June 22, 1971 and disbursement vouchers

 signed by him. [FN77] The Church also failed to impeach McLean's testimony

 about 'paid completions.' (A 'paid completion' is a course or level that is

 completed and paid for.) McLean testified that in May 1971 the file room aboard

 the Apollo had files for the different churches including AOLA and that the

 AOLA files had subdivisions for statistics on gross income and 'paid

 completions.' Petitioner tried to establish that statistics on paid completions

 were not kept until August 1971 when L. Ron Hubbard wrote a policy letter

 declaring that it was harmful for Scientology organizations to concentrate on

 increasing gross income at the expense of delivering quality services. The

 policy letter explains that L. Ron Hubbard therefore developed a new

 statistical goal called 'paid completions accompanied by an acceptable success

 story.' This new goal was meant to counteract the misguided tendencies of

 certain organizations to emphasize gross income statistics over quality

 services. However, it is clear from other policy letters that as early as March

 of 1969 Scientology organizations were instructed to report statistics on the

 number of grade levels that were paid for and completed. We, therefore, credit

 McLean's testimony and surmise that the new statistic introduced in 1971 had to

 do with QUALITY paid completions and not just paid completions which were

 already being tabulated.

  Lewis Hubbard and the examining agents for the 1971-1974 audit testified at

 length in this trial and underwent extensive cross-examination by petitioner's

 counsel. They each displayed a high degree of professional dedication and an

 absence of any prejudice towards petitioner or Scientology.

  *512 This Court does not credit the testimony of two Church witnesses, Fran

 Harris and Joel Kreiner. Harris was very evasive on cross-examination about

 topics that were clearly within her area of competence. She did not know what

 discount prices were given to staff members; whether ASHO paid money to the so-

 called trust; how much money ASHO sent to Flag, what percentage of the ASHO

 budget was devoted to operating expenses; which organizations sent staff to

 train at Flag; whether staff training payments were routed through Los Angeles

 to Flag or went directly to Flag; how the Swiss banks notified her of their

 intention to charge negative interest on foreign deposits; whether one or two

 Swiss trust accounts were closed out in 1972; how she could be certain no one

 had access to the OTC and trust monies; why the OTC cash aboard the Apollo was

 not deposited in the Banque du Benelux account in Luxembourg until 1975 even

 though the account was opened in 1973 and held other cash deposits from the

 Apollo; what the terms of her contract with the Sea Organization were; or why

 her close friend Robin Roos lost her position as CS-3 on the Aide's Counsel.

 Taking into account that Harris served as the chief financial officer at USLO,

 ASHO, AOLA and then Flag, and considering that she and L. Ron Hubbard

 masterminded the transfer of the OTC and trust monies from banks in Switzerland

 to the Apollo, we can only conclude that her evasiveness was intentional.

  Joel Kreiner was the Church's chief legal officer (Deputy Guardian Legal,

 U.S.) from the fall of 1969 to June 1974. In June he stepped down from his

 position as chief legal adviser but continued to hold a legal post in

 petitioner's Guardian Office. Kreiner was the Church's primary tax attorney and

 had custody and control of the Church's tax files. Kreiner's manner of giving

 testimony raised doubts about his credibility. He repeatedly revised his

 statements. Under respondent's examination his memory was short and often had

 to be refreshed by documentary evidence. This Court was ultimately persuaded to

 disbelieve Kreiner by three factors. First, Kreiner prepared applications for

 exemption for several Scientology missions. Statements on the application form

 about the mission's relationship to the United Kingdom Church were misleading.

 The form failed to mention the mission's obligation to remit 10 percent of its

 corrected gross income to the *513 United Kingdom Church and described its

 practice of sending financial reports to the United Kingdom Church as purely

 voluntary although in fact it was obligatory. Second, Kreiner wrote a letter

 transmitting the Church audit report to the IRS which characterized the report

 as 'a fair and accurate version' of the Church's tax position. The report is

 filled with falsehoods about OTC, the Trust, and the United Kingdom Church.

 Kreiner, as the Church's chief tax counsel during the docketed years, must have

 known this. Third, when Church operatives pursuant to Guardian Order 1361 were

 having difficulty stealing documents from IRS intelligence files, a Freedom of

 Information request prepared by Kreiner was made to the IRS for the purpose of

 amassing these documents in a central location where they would be easier to

 steal.

  Petitioner raises four evidentiary objections to the introduction of the OEC

 series, a nine-volume compilation of Scientology policy letters. [FN78]

 Petitioner claims (1) that the compilation is hearsay; (2) that the policy

 letters predating the docketed years are irrelevant; (3) that the policy

 letters are not comprised of statements within the meaning of Fed. R. Evid.

 801(a); and (4) that volumes cannot be admitted wholesale without examination

 of each policy letter for nonadmissible material. None of these objections is

 well-founded.

  Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, a party-admission is not hearsay. Fed. R.

 Evid. 801(d)(2)(B) provides:

   A statement is not hearsay if--* * * (t)he statement is offered against a

 party and is * * * a statement of which he has manifested his adoption or

 belief in its truth.

  Petitioner notes the following disclaimer published in the front of each OEC

 volume and contends that the volumes, therefore, do not constitute a party-

 admission:

   This is part of the religious literature and works of the Founder of

 Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard. It is presented to the reader as part of the

 record of his personal research into Life, and should be construed only as a

 written report of such research and not as a statement of claims made by the

 Church or the author.

  *514 A statement can be adopted by conduct as well as by words. State v.

 Hamilton, 236 N.W. 2d 325, 330 (Iowa 1975); 4 Weinstein's Evidence par.

 801(d)(2)(B)(01) at 801-144 (1981). Here, despite its written disclaimer,

 petitioner has clearly manifested its adoption of the policy letters in the OEC

 series by its conduct. Petitioner distributed policy letters to staff

 throughout the Church. Staff were expected to know and follow the policy

 letters. The policy letters made up some of the material in staff folders

 containing job instructions and staff were quizzed from time-to-time on their

 content. Petitioner even offered a course, the OEC course, devoted to the study

 of policy letters--each volume requiring 2- 1/2 weeks of study. On balance,

 petitioner's actions speak louder than its words and the OEC series must be

 considered the statements of a party-opponent within the meaning of Fed. R.

 Evid. 801(d)(2)(B).

  Some of the policy letters in the OEC series predate the docketed years and

 petitioner claims they are, therefore, irrelevant. Evidence is remote and

 irrelevant only when it bears no connection to provable issues in the case.

 N.L.R.B. v. Ed Chandler Ford, Inc., 718 F.2d 892, 893 (9th Cir. 1983).

 Policy letters were effective until officially cancelled. An editor's note in

 the OEC series marks when a policy letter has been cancelled. Thus, all the

 policy letters in the OEC volumes predating the docketing years are relevant

 except the ones marked by an editor's note showing they were cancelled.

 Petitioner claims that some policy letters fell into desuetude without being

 officially cancelled. As a general proposition this is probably true. However,

 according to petitioner each Church allegedly kept a current index of updated

 orders and policy letters. Petitioner never produced this index. [FN79] Under

 the circumstances we think the early policy letters in the OEC series must be

 deemed to be in effect during the docketed years in the absence of specific

 evidence to the contrary.

  Petitioner claims that the policy letters should not be admitted because they

 are so obscure that they cannot be said to be written assertions within the

 meaning of Fed. R. Evid. 801(a). Petitioner relies on Zenith Radio Corp. v.

 Matsushita *515 Electric Industrial Co., 505 F. Supp. 1190 (E.D. Pa.

 1980), which held that certain diaries kept by Japanese businessmen were not

 admissible because they were unintelligible. The diaries were written purely

 for the diarist. They were not intended for an audience. They contained mostly

 coded notations which would have required the services of a cryptographer to

 decipher. 505 F.Supp. at 1211. The Zenith court did note, however, that a

 proper foundation for the diaries could have been laid had their meaning been

 explained. 505 F.Supp. at 1242. The policy letters at issue here are

 markedly different from the diaries. The policy letters were collected for

 publication and sold in petitioner's bookstore which was open to the general

 public. They were written in sentences rather than coded notations. Words or

 abbreviations which had idiosyncratic meaning were explained at the trial by

 witnesses.

  Petitioner's final objection to the OEC series is the admission of the volumes

 as a whole without separate analysis of each policy letter for inadmissible

 material. Petitioner again relies on the Zenith case which held that 'Rule

 801(d)(2) requires that each statement (in a compilation) be separately

 admissible.' 505 F.Supp. at 1240. The Zenith court was dealing with

 vicarious admissions under Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)(2)(C) and (D). The policy

 letters are, however, adoptive admissions within the meaning of Fed. R. Evid.

 801(d)(2)(B) so that different considerations are at stake. The Zenith court

 was concerned that the diaries contained entries which did not qualify as

 admissions for one of three reasons. They were not assertions. They were not

 made in the scope of employment. They contained double hearsay. No such

 problems exist here. First, as we have already explained, the policy letters

 contain statements within the meaning of Fed. R. Evid. 801(a). Furthermore,

 since we are dealing with adoptive admissions and not vicarious admissions, we

 need not be concerned whether the statements were made in the course of

 employment. Finally, there is no double hearsay problem. California Church

 officials were expected to know the content of policy letters and to follow

 them lock, stock, and barrel. Under these circumstances all of the policy

 letters in the OEC series constitute adoptive admissions, including the ones

 containing double hearsay, 505 F. Supp. at 1243 n. 64; cf. United States v.

 Article of Drug, 362 F.2d 923 (3d Cir. 1966).

  *516 The admissions of a party-opponent have been freed under the Federal

 Rules of Evidence from many of the restraints placed on other forms of evidence

 to guaranty their trustworthiness and the policy respecting them is one which

 calls for 'generous treatment' of their admissibility. Advisory Committee's

 Note to Rule 801 reprinted in P. Rothstein, Rules of Evidence for the United

 States Courts and Magistrates at 355-356 (2d ed. 1983). In keeping with this

 policy, we see no reason to scrutinize individually each policy letter in the

 OEC series prior to its admission.

  The following Flag Orders were conditionally received in evidence provided

 respondent demonstrated they were applicable during the docketed years: Flag

 Orders RS391 (Exhibit AG), 565 (Exhibit AH), 773 (Exhibit AI), 2132 (Exhibit

 AJ), 3152 RR (Exhibit AK), 3302 (Exhibit AL), 3385-1 (Exhibit AN), 3385-7R

 (Exhibit AO), 3474-2 (Exhibit AP). Flag Order 3152 RR is dated March 30, 1972

 and, therefore, shows on its face that it was in effect during the docketed

 years. Flag Orders RS391, 565, 773, and 2132 were all issued prior to the

 docketed years. Respondent demonstrated that Flag Orders did not automatically

 expire and thus made a prima facie showing that these orders continued in

 effect during 1970-1972. McLean's testimony corroborated the continuing

 vitality of one Flag order in this group. Flag Order RS391 states that L. Ron

 Hubbard must approve financial planning and McLean testified this practice

 continued during the docketed years. Fran Harris was the only witness to rebut

 respondent's showing. Since this Court did not find her to be a credible

 witness, we find that Flag Orders RS391, 565, 773, and 2132 were in effect

 during the docketed years. Flag Orders 3302, 3385-1, 3385-7R and 3474-2 post

 date the docketed years and were not in effect during 1970-1972.

  Petitioner objects to several bits of evidence which respondent used to prove

 petitioner violated public policy. Petitioner objects to any evidence of

 conspiratorial events occurring after the docketed years on relevancy grounds;

 to Exhibit FG, the stipulation of evidence filed on October 26, 1979 in United

 States v. Hubbard, Crim. No. 78 401 (D.D.C. 1979), affd. per curiam sub nom.

 United States v. Heldt, 668 F.2d 1238 (D.C. Cir. 1981), cert. denied 456

 U.S. 926 (1982), on hearsay grounds; to Exhibit FU, the typewriter case

 documents, on *517 Fourth Amendment grounds; and to Exhibit FX, a Guardian

 Order, on Fourth Amendment grounds. We consider each of these objections in

 turn.

  Many of the events making up the conspiracy to prevent the IRS from assessing

 and collecting taxes from Scientology churches occurred after the taxable years

 at issue in this case. To recapitulate, the most significant of these

 activities were the execution of petitioner's 1972 return, the burglaries of

 the IRS, the coverup of the burglaries, the falsification of petitioner's

 records on board the Apollo, and the misrepresentations made to the IRS

 auditors during the 1971-1974 audit. Petitioner claims that evidence of these

 and similar conspiratorial events occurring after 1972 is irrelevant.

  We recognize that each tax year is a separate cause of action. However, this

 rule does not force us to blind ourselves to events occurring outside the

 docketed years which have a direct bearing on the taxable years at hand. Fed.

 R. Evid. 404(b) authorizes the use of evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts

 to prove 'motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity,

 or absence or mistake or accident.' Pursuant to this rule a trial court has

 broad discretion to admit evidence of SUBSEQUENT similar acts and crimes

 provided it is probative of one of these purposes and is not used merely to

 show criminal disposition. United States v. Arroyo-Angulo, 580 F.2d 1137,

 1149 (2d Cir.), cert. denied 439 U.S. 913 (1978); United States v.

 Cavallaro, 553 F.2d 300, 305 (2d Cir. 1977). See also United States v.

 King, 587 F.2d 956, 962 (9th Cir. 1978); United States v. McDonald, 576

 F.2d 1350 (9th Cir. 1978). The burglaries, the thefts, the coverup, the

 falsification of records, all represent actions taken on petitioner's part to

 alter the facts and influence the issues presented in this very case. They are

 probative of petitioner's intent and plan to prevent the IRS from inquiring

 into the tax status of Scientology churches. Petitioner has insisted that it is

 innocent of any wrongdoing prior to and during the docketed years. For example,

 on brief, petitioner attempts to characterize a 1969 FBO network plan to

 disguise payments to OTC as an honest effort to record Flag expenses in a more

 organized fashion. Also, on brief, petitioner claims that Exhibit FX, a 1972

 Guardian plan to counter IRS investigations of Scientology churches, does not

 contemplate illegal activity. The subsequent conspiratorial acts are,

 therefore, *518 highly probative of petitioner's criminal intent. They also

 show the magnitude of petitioner's plan. In sum, December 31, 1972 is not a

 magic cutoff date for evidence that so clearly elucidates petitioner's role in

 a conspiracy that was rooted in the docketed years but continued to grow and

 flourish for a long time afterwards. Cf. United States v. King, supra at

 962; United States v. Testa, 548 F.2d 847, 852 (9th Cir. 1977). This is

 especially so where a primary purpose of the subsequent acts was to influence

 the very matters before us.

  Exhibit FG is a stipulation of evidence entered on October 26, 1979 in United

 States v. Hubbard, Crim. No. 78-401 (D.D.C. 1979). On the basis of this

 stipulation, several of petitioner's officials were convicted of conspiracy to

 obstruct justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 371. Petitioner claims that

 this Court cannot rely on Exhibit FG because it is hearsay. We agree that the

 stipulation is hearsay and that it cannot be used by itself for substantive

 purposes. However, petitioner misconceives what is being done here. The

 stipulation is not being used as substantive evidence. It has merged into the

 convictions of Mary Sue Hubbard, Henning Heldt, and others. Their judgments of

 conviction were received in evidence and we are here relying on the stipulation

 to determine the facts underlying the convictions.

  Fed. R. Evid. 803 (22) allows evidence of a judgment of a felony conviction

 'to prove any fact essential to sustain the judgment.' It is the duty of the

 trial judge in the subsequent case to determine just which facts were essential

 to the previous conviction. The Supreme Court in Emich Motors Corp. v. General

 Motors Corp., 340 U.S. 558 (1951), discussed the difficulties of the problem

 and the trial judge's task:

   The difficult problem, of course, is to determine what matters were

 adjudicated in the antecedent suit. A general verdict of the jury or judgment

 of the court without special findings does not indicate which of the means

 charged in the indictment were found to have been used in effectuating the

 conspiracy. And since all of the acts charged need not be proved for

 conviction *** such a verdict does not establish that defendants used all of

 the means charged or any particular one. Under these circumstances what was

 decided by the criminal judgment must be determined by the trail judge *** upon

 an examination of the record, including the pleadings, the *519 evidence

 submitted, the instructions under which the jury arrived at its verdict, and

 any opinions of the courts. (Citations omitted.)

  340 U.S. at 569. [FN80] See also United States v. Podell, 572 F.2d 31,

 36 (2d Cir. 1978).

  Ordinarily the evidentiary utility of a finding of guilt on a general count of

 conspiracy is limited to the essentials of the conspiracy due to the difficulty

 in determining what substantive violations occurred. See Emich Motors Corp. v.

 General Motors Corp, supra at 569-571; see also United States v. Guzzone,

 273 F.2d 121, 122-123 (2d Cir. 1959); United States v. Kates, 419 F.Supp.

 846, 852-853 (E.D. Pa. 1976). In the instant case, however, we do not have to

 operate in a vacuum. Petitioner's officials were convicted on the basis of a

 detailed uncontested stipulation of evidence. We can, therefore, determine with

 precision what the unlawful objects of the conspiracy were and what means were

 taken to effect its purposes.

  Under the circumstances, we can safely conclude that the criminal court which

 handed down the convictions must have found facts in complete accordance with

 the stipulation of evidence. This follows from its duty to consider rationally

 the evidence. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979). The only evidence

 presented was an uncontested, written stipulation supported by documents. There

 were no witnesses. Thus, since credibility was not an issue, and since the

 stipulation was devoid of internal inconsistency and not contrary to the laws

 of nature, the criminal court had no principled basis for accepting only part

 of the stipulation and rejecting other parts. As a rational trier-of-fact, it

 had to adopt the stipulation in its entirety. We, therefore, are entitled to

 rely on the stipulation not as a discrete piece of substantive evidence but as

 a comprehensive statement of the facts clothing the convictions.

  Exhibit FU consists of Guardian Order 1361 and a number of reports discussing

 compliance with the order. The documents were brought to the IRS in Los Angeles

 in an unmarked typewriter case by an attorney in private practice named Jones.

 They were received by Agent McKellar. Petitioner claims that respondent should

 have obtained a warrant before *520 opening the typewriter case, since

 attorney Jones told McKellar that he had read the documents and they appeared

 to relate to burglaries of IRS offices for the purpose of reviewing IRS records

 concerning the Church of Scientology. Petitioner lacks standing to pursue this

 Fourth Amendment claim. The typewriter case was found abandoned in a Sears

 parking lot sometime in July, 1977 by a client of attorney Jones. The client

 saw an unidentified man leave the case containing the documents in the parking

 lot and, after a short while, when the person did not return to retrieve the

 case, the client took it and later gave it to attorney Jones. The typewriter

 case had no markings on it identifying it as belonging to the California Church

 and it appears from the record that it was not even locked. Under these facts

 petitioner's objections to Exhibit FU lack merit. Abandoned property is not

 protected by the Fourth Amendment. Abel v. United States, 362 U.S. 217

 (1960). Furthermore, a person who voluntarily abandons property lacks standing

 to complain of its search and seizure. United States v. Kendall, 655 F.2d

 199 (9th Cir. 1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 941 (1982); United States v.

 Cella, 568 F.2d 1266 (9th Cir. 1977); United States v. Jackson, 544 F.2d

 407 (9th Cir. 1976).

  Exhibit FX is a 19-page document dated April 5, 1972, written in the format of

 a Guardian Order. FBI agents seized the document from a file cabinet in

 petitioner's Guardian Office during a search of petitioner's offices on July 8,

 1977. The FBI agents had a warrant for the search. We agree with petitioner

 that Exhibit FX falls outside the scope of the warrant. The search warrant

 enumerated 162 items to be seized. In most instances each item described a

 specific document. However, item 162 was a catchall calling for the seizure of

 '(a)ny and all * * * evidence * * * of the crimes of conspiracy * * * which

 facts recited in the accompanying affidavit make out.' The reference to the

 'accompanying affidavit' is the affidavit of FBI Special Agent Robert Tittle.

 His affidavit describes, among other crimes, a conspiracy to steal documents

 from the IRS but the conspiracy is limited to the years 1974 through 1976.

 Exhibit FX describes a plan to infiltrate the IRS and so is logically related

 to the conspiracy described in the Tittle affidavit. However, Exhibit FX is

 dated April 5, 1972 and thus predates the conspiracy described in the Tittle

 affidavit. We conclude that the FBI agents who *521 seized FX acted in

 excess of their authority under the warrant. Marron v. United States, 275

 U.S. 192, 196 (1927); United States v. Heldt, 668 F.2d 1238, 1256-1257 (D.C.

 Cir.1981) (per curiam), cert. denied sub nom. Hubbard v. United States, 102

 S.Ct. 1971 (1982).

  This does not end the matter. In a few carefully defined circumstances,

 searches without a warrant do not offend the Fourth Amendment. Coolidge v. New

 Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 455 (1971) (Stewart, J., Plurality Opinion). A

 warrantless search is justified in exigent circumstances where evidence will

 most likely be destroyed in the time it takes to obtain a warrant. Vale v.

 Louisiana, 399 U.S. 30, 35 (1970). Another exception to the warrant

 requirement is the 'plain view' exception. Under this exception police, armed

 with a warrant to search a given area for specified objects, may seize an

 unlisted, incriminating object which inadvertently falls into plain view.

 Coolidge v. New Hampshire, supra at 465. These are the two most likely

 exceptions justifying the seizure of Exhibit FX. There are others, but we do

 not consider any of them for however well-founded one of these grounds may be,

 they are of no avail here because of respondent's failure of proof. The rule is

 well settled that, when evidence is presented showing that an item was seized

 that was not listed in the warrant, the burden is on the proponent of the

 evidence to prove that the seizure of the item was justified under one of the

 exceptions to the warrant requirement. Vale v. Louisiana, supra at 34;

 United States v. Jeffers, 342 U.S. 48, 51 (1951); McDonald v. United

 States, 335 U.S. 451, 456 (1948). The seizing officer did not testify so we

 have no way of knowing if Exhibit FX was in plain view; nor was there

 convincing evidence put before us to support a finding under the requirements

 of Vale v. Louisiana, supra, that the document stood in imminent danger of

 destruction. We, therefore, conclude that Exhibit FX was seized in violation of

 the Fourth Amendment.

  In Suarez v. Commissioner, 58 T.C. 792 (1972), we held 'that as a matter of

 law, the protective rule of the fourth amendment which excludes evidence

 illegally obtained is applicable in a civil tax case.' 58 T.C. at 806. In

 that case we applied the rule to exclude records unlawfully seized by the Miami

 police in a raid on an abortion clinic. Our holding was partially overruled in

 United States v. Janis, 428 U.S. 433 (1976), which *522 held that the

 exclusionary rule did not prevent one sovereign from using in a civil

 proceeding evidence illegally seized by another sovereign's law enforcement

 officers. 428 U.S. at 459-460. What has become clear since our holding in

 Suarez is that the exclusionary rule is not a constitutional right but a

 judically created remedy designed to deter unreasonable invasions of privacy by

 governmental officials. United States v. Leon, 468 U.S. ___, 52 U.S.L.W.

 5155, 5157 (July 5, 1984); United States v. Calandra, 414 U.S. 338, 348

 (1974). The rule is thus properly invoked only where its deterrent effect is

 likely to outweigh the societal cost of proscribing relevant evidence.

 Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Lopez-Mendoza, 468 U.S. ___, 52

 U.S.L.W. 5190, 5192 (July 5, 1984); United States v. Janis, supra at 453-

 454. As a general proposition, the exclusionary rule is most efficacious where

 it is used to exclude evidence from a proceeding in the seizing officer's zone

 of primary interest. United States v. Janis, supra at 458. However, even in

 such a case the application of the rule is not automatic. The societal cost of

 invoking the rule may be too great a price to pay, see Immigration and

 Naturalization Service v. Lopez-Mendoza, supra, or under the particular facts

 of the case the application of the rule might be of little deterrent value. See

 United States v. Leon, supra.

  The FBI was solely responsible for the seizure of Exhibit FX. The IRS had

 nothing to do with it. FBI agents seized the document during an authorized

 search of petitioner's premises on July 8, 1977. The search was made pursuant

 to a warrant for the purpose of gathering evidence about seven criminal

 conspiracies involving Scientology officials. Exhibit FX was one of some 23,000

 documents seized. The rather complex history of these documents following their

 seizure is set out in United States v. Hubbard, 650 F.2d 293 (D.C. Cir.

 1980). For our purposes it suffices to say the documents were initially used in

 connection with criminal proceedings against eleven officials of the Church of

 Scientology and were kept under seal first by the California district court and

 then by the district court for the District of Columbia. Our record does not

 disclose when respondent first came into physical possession of Exhibit FX.

 However, it is clear that respondent's counsel first examined a copy of the

 document in Washington sometime in May 1980 during a period when the seal on

 the Church's records was improperly lifted by the district court for the

 *523 District of Columbia and the document was thus available to the general

 public for inspection. [FN81] Sometime thereafter Exhibit FX was forwarded to

 respondent's counsel in Los Angeles.

  Under these facts the attenuation between the FBI's initial seizure of Exhibit

 FX and its subsequent use by the IRS in this proceeding is so great that we

 perceive no meaningful deterrent effect to be achieved by excluding the

 document from evidence. On the other hand, Exhibit FX is a highly relevant

 document. It shows that during the docketed years petitioner was developing

 plans to prevent the IRS from investigating Scientology churches. It is,

 therefore, a significant building block in respondent's public policy case

 against petitioner. We, therefore, hold that the exclusionary rule does not

 preclude the receipt of Exhibit FX into evidence.

                                      VIII.

  For the reasons we have stated, in Part IV of this opinion, we agree with

 respondent's determinations in the notice of deficiency, except his inclusion

 in petitioner's income of payments of $76,497.24 in 1970 and $161,018.38 in

 1972 from the United Kingdom Church. In light of our finding that the United

 Kingdom Church is a branch of petitioner, these payments represent an internal

 transfer of funds. They, therefore, are not properly included in petitioner's

 income. Respondent concedes this point.

  On brief, respondent for the first time asks us to offset this downward

 adjustment to the deficiency notice with income from the United Kingdom Church.

 We decline to do so. In its preliminary ruling and its final ruling, this Court

 said it would entertain evidence concerning the United Kingdom Church's

 activities under one of three theories of relevance: to prove the Church

 operated commercially, to prove it benefited private interests, or to prove it

 violated public policy. During the trial, respondent repeatedly disavowed any

 intent to increase the notice of deficiency by reason of the United Kingdom

 Church's *524 activities. He made this disavowal knowing that, if he proved

 his claim that the United Kingdom Church was a branch of petitioner, the notice

 of deficiency would be in error and a Rule 155 hearing would be required to

 recompute the deficiency. Nevertheless, during the course of the trial,

 respondent repeatedly disavowed any intent to increase the notice of deficiency

 by reason of the United Kingdom Church's income. Now for the first time on

 brief respondent seeks to shore up the faulty notice of deficiency with income

 from the United Kingdom Church's accounts.

  We need not delve into the thorny question whether increasing and shoring up

 the notice of deficiency are legal equivalents. There may well be circumstances

 where the distinction is meritorious. However, here we must treat respondent's

 disavowal of intent to increase the notice of deficiency as inclusive of his

 intent not to shore up the notice of deficiency with income from the United

 Kingdom Church's accounts. We interpret respondent's disavowal expansively

 since he made it with full realization that his claim that the United Kingdom

 Church was a branch of petitioner would cause the notice of deficiency to be in

 error and would necessitate a Rule 155 hearing. Respondent now seeks to get out

 from under this requirement. Respondent's concession in open court not to seek

 an increase in the notice of deficiency was the equivalent of a stipulation.

 Massachusetts Ave. Heights Citizens Assoc. v. Embassy Corp., 433 F.2d 513,

 515 (D.C. Cir. 1970) (per curiam). Respondent is bound by his stipulations.

 Kampel v. Commissioner, 634 F.2d 708, 710, n. 3 (2d Cir. 1980); United

 States v. 237,500 Acres of Land, 236 F.Supp. 44, 46 (S.D. Cal. 1964), affd.

 sub nom. United States v. American Pumice Co., 404 F.2d 336 (9th Cir. 1968).

  Respondent also asks this Court to shore up the notice of deficiency with

 OTC's income. This is a new theory advanced for the first time on brief.

 Respondent is well aware of the lateness of this theory but nevertheless urges

 this Court to adopt it under the authority of Wilkes-Barre Carriage Co. v.

 Commissioner, 39 T.C. 839 (1963), affd. per curiam 332 F.2d 421 (2d Cir.

 1964), which held that 'a deficiency may be approved on the basis of reasons

 other than those relied upon by the Commissioner * * *.' 39 T.C. at 845.

  *525 It is too late in the day for respondent to raise this issue.

 Respondent knew well before trial that OTC was a sham corporation but did

 nothing to adjust the notice of deficiency to include this source of unreported

 income. [FN82] While OTC was clearly a sham and had substantial reserves in its

 bank accounts, petitioner has had no opportunity to prove that these reserves

 were not income. Petitioner cannot be expected to shoulder its burden if it

 does not know under which Code provision the Commissioner has proceeded and 'if

 it does not know which transactions or group of transactions the Commissioner

 has determined to have resulted in distortions of true net income.'

 Commissioner v. Chelsea Products, 197 F.2d 620, 624 (3d Cir. 1952).

  The case of Wilkes-Barre Carriage Co. v. Commissioner, supra, on which

 respondent relies, is inapposite. In that case, unlike the case at bar, the

 taxpayer was aware at the outset which particular transactions were disputed by

 the Commissioner. The rule laid down simply allowed the Commissioner to put

 forward a new legal theory in support of deficiencies arising from well-defined

 transactions. In other words the very same source of income was supported under

 a different theory. Here, however, respondent attempts to support his

 determination not only with a new legal theory but also from an entirely

 different source of income. Respondent is too late. See Brook v. Commissioner,

 360 F.2d 1011, 1013 (2d Cir. 1966). [FN83]

  Respondent determined an addition to tax under section 6651(a) for failure to

 file a corporate income tax return (Form 1120). Section 6651(a) provides a

 mandatory 5 percent per month addition on the amount of tax owed not to exceed

 25 percent for failure to file a required return unless it is shown that the

 failure to file 'is due to reasonable cause and not *526 * * * willful

 neglect.' The burden of proof is on the taxpayer to show reasonable cause for

 failing to file a require return. Funk v. Commissioner, 687 F.2d 264 (8th

 Cir. 1982). Generally the taxpayer must file his return on the proper form to

 satisfy this filing requirement. Parker v. Commissioner, 365 F.2d 792, 800

 (8th Cir. 1966), cert. denied 385 U.S. 1026 (1967); Olean Times Publishing

 Co. v. Commissioner, 42 B.T.A. 1277, 1279 (1940).

  On July 18, 1967, respondent revoked petitioner's tax exemption and instructed

 petitioner it was thereafter required to file a Federal income tax return, in

 petitioner's case, Form 1120. Petitioner ignored this instruction and continued

 to file its returns on Forms 990 'Return of Organization Exempt From Income

 Tax.' Petitioner claims that it was justified in continuing to file its returns

 on Forms 990 since the revocation of exemption was null and void. We hold in

 Part II of this opinion that the revocation was valid and effective.

 Petitioner's unilateral doubts about its effectiveness are not 'reasonable

 cause' for its failure to file a proper return.

  Decision will be entered under Rule 155.



      FN1. Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the

     Internal Revenue Code of 1954 as amended and in effect during the taxable

     years in issue.



      FN2. As FOLO evolved and developed, it went through several name changes.

     At its inception it was called Operation Transport Liaison Office (OTL). It

     then became variously referred to as the Continental Liaison Office (CLO)

     and the United States Liaison Office (USLO). Finally, it was designated

     Flag Operation Liaison Office, Western United States (FOLO WUS or FOLO).



      FN3. The petition in this case was filed March 28, 1978. Final

     supplemental briefs on the public policy issue in this case were filed on

     August 4, 1983 (petitioner) and August 22, 1983 (respondent) after the

     decision in Bob Jones University v. United States,___U.S.___, 103 S.Ct.

     2017 was handed down on May 24, 1983.



      FN4. The text of the letter listed several branch churches but omitted

     mention of the United Kingdom Church. In fine print, the stationery

     referred to petitioner as 'a non-profit corporation in U.S.A. registered in

     England.'



      FN5. The stipulation is carefully worded and does not explicitly state

     that the list is a list of petitioner's divisions, but the impression

     created is that it is a list of the Church's divisions.



      FN6. Petitioner claimed that missions were actually chartered by the

     United Kingdom Church and to the California Church. For several reasons we

     find that the California Church chartered the missions. First the Charter

     Agreement form recites that the California Church is the chartering

     authority, and Clive Whittaker, the Franchise Communicator for the United

     States, testified that this form was faithfully adhered to during the

     docketed years. Second, the Calgary Scientology Mission was chartered by

     the California Church. Third, the Church's report of the 1971-1974 audit

     states that the California Church had the authority to charter missions.

     The only evidence to the contrary is the unsupported statements of church

     witnesses.



      FN7. Throughout this opinion we have cited specific policy letters by the

     abbreviation 'HCO PL,' followed by the letter's date and where applicable

     the volume and page number in the OEC series so that a typical cite reads

     as follows: HCO PL June 15, 1984, 3 OEC 164.



      FN8. Whether Scientology served a religious purpose was an issue that was

     never reached in the Founding Church case. Founding Church of Scientology

     v. United States, Ct. Cl. Com. Rept. (Aug. 7, 1968), 7 CCH Standard Federal

     Tax Reporter par. 7927 (1968), modified 188 Ct.Cl. 490, 412 F.2d 1197

     (1969), cert. denied 397 U.S. 1009 (1970).



      FN9. These included a summons enforcement action against petitioner for

     the taxable years 1968 and 1969 on appeal to the Ninth Circuit;

     reconsideration of the revocation of exemption of the Florida Church issued

     on November 7, 1969; negotiations to settle a refund case involving the

     Hawaii Church; consideration of the eligibility of Scientology ministers

     for exemption from the self-employment tax; and review of pending

     applications of numerous Churches of Scientology for recognition as tax-

     exempt organizations. Between 1967 and 1974 respondent had delayed action

     or changed positions on some of these issues.



      FN10. The procedural understandings that were reached at the conference on

     February 14, 1975 were not reduced to writing. Petitioner's lawyer wrote a

     letter dated February 26, 1976 purportedly memorializing the agreements

     reached at the conference. This letter is a one-sided reflection of the

     understandings that were reached.



      FN11. The record mentions a fourth agent, Melvin Young, but does not

     disclose if he worked full time.



      FN12. The technical advice procedure is described in Rev. Proc. 73-8,

     1973-1 C.B. 754, modified by Rev. Proc. 78-14, 1978-2 C.B. 486.

     'Technical advice' is a term of art meaning 'guidance as to the

     interpretation and proper application of internal revenue laws * * *

     furnished by the National Office upon request of a district office in

     connection with the examination of a taxpayer's return * * * as a means of

     assisting Service personnel in closing cases.' Rev. Proc. 73-8, supra. The

     district office writes a statement of facts and issues for submission to

     the National Office. However, before it is sent to the National Office, it

     is given to the taxpayer for his concurrence. If the taxpayer does not

     agree with the statement of facts and issues, he drafts his own and both

     statements are submitted to the National Office. If after review of the

     statements, the National Office proposes advice adverse to the taxpayer,

     the taxpayer is entitled to a conference. Following the conference, the

     National Office issues a technical advice memorandum addressed to the

     district office giving the conclusions of the National Office and

     instructing the district office on how to process the case.



      FN13. When Agent Endo accepted the factual content of the footnotes at

     face value, he had no independent knowledge to judge the Church's

     representations.



      FN14. The transmittal memorandum presented four issues for consideration

     by the National Office: (1) whether petitioner was a religious

     organization; (2) whether petitioner was organized and operated for

     religious purposes; (3) whether petitioner had a substantial commercial

     purpose; and (4) whether petitioner's net earnings inured to the benefit of

     private individuals.



      FN15. These admissions form an attachment to a letter dated October 3,

     1980 from respondent to petitioner, a copy of which was sent to the Court.

     The letter and the attachments have been marked as Court's Exhibit 6.



      FN16. Almost all of the materials that the SSS collected on Scientology,

     which have been made a part of this record, are tax-related. Only two

     sentences in one report on the Hawaii Church arguably refer to non-tax

     matters, making reference to complaints from neighbors about the use of

     'pot' and LSD at the Church.



      FN17. Some other files on militants were also destroyed but there is no

     evidence they contained material about Scientology or petitioner.



      FN18. Before the trial of this case began, as we have noted, respondent

     pressed several different grounds in support of his contention that

     petitioner should be denied tax-exempt status for public policy violations.

     One such ground was that petitioner used the E-meter to conduct security

     checks on employees in violation of California state law. This Court ruled

     that it would not accept evidence on this ground if petitioner established

     that the E-meter was a religious artifact. Petitioner's witnesses testified

     that the E-meter was a religious aid, and respondent afterwards abandoned

     this claim.



      FN19. HCO PL September 27, 1970 (Issue I), 3 OEC 89, describes

     petitioner's policy against free services and price cutting. It states:

     Price cuts are forbidden under any guise. 1. PROCESSING MAY NEVER BE GIVEN

     AWAY BY AN ORG. Processing is too expensive to deliver.

     9. ONLY FULLY CONTRACTED STAFF IS AWARDED FREE SERVICE, AND THIS IS DONE BY

     INVOICE AND LEGAL NOTE WHICH BECOMES DUE AND PAYABLE IF THE CONTRACT IF

     BROKEN. * * *



      FN20. Historically the price of a 25-hour intensive was fixed at an amount

     equal to 3 months of pay for the average middle class worker in the

     district of the Scientology church providing the service.



      FN21. Petitioner's policy against reducing established prices is set forth

     in HCO PL April 27, 1965, 3 OEC 91, 92, which states:

     Therefore we can draw up some policies on prices.

     1. The advertised and reported price of anything sold by an org must be the

     actual price received by the org for that item.

     2. There may be no hidden discounts, trick reductions, whims or favours

     given in pricing.

     3. Merchandising by advertising that prices are going up soon is forbidden.

     4. Anyone covertly reducing prices is guilty of suppressing an org which is

     a high crime.

     5. Any price passed upon at Saint Hill by myself may not be changed for

     anything by anyone else in an org. And finally:

     6. Efforts to reduce prices below a set scale will be considered

     suppressive acts.

     This policy was reaffirmed in HCO PL September 27, 1970 (Issue I), 3 OEC

     89.



      FN22. 'Dianetics' and 'Scientology' are the registered trademarks of L.

     Ron Hubbard.



      FN23. Book prices fluctuated during the course of the docketed years so

     that these amounts may have varied.



      FN24. This objective was expressed by L. Ron Hubbard in HCO PL May 1,

     1971, 6 OEC 294, as follows: 'MOTIF: THE ROLE OF A MISSION: RAW PUBLIC, GET

     THEM IN AND UP THE LINE TO ORGS.'



      FN25. For purposes of this case a conversion ratio of 2.4 dollars per

     pound has been used.



      FN26. The LRH Comm. Statistic Revised income was money that went to L. Ron

     Hubbard personally as debt repayment.



      FN27. For purposes of this case, we used a conversion ration of .2652

     dollars per Swiss franc which is the rate quoted for December 29, 1972 in

     Vol. 46, No. 1, Bank and Quotation Record (January 1973, New York).



      FN28. These balances are taken from petitioner's exhibit. We note that the

     year-end balance for 1971 is mathematically incorrect and should be

     2,042,832.04. OTC's cash reserves may have even been larger than the

     amounts shown in these accounts. Petitioner contends that OTC had

     $1,986,409.50 in cash on board the Apollo on December 31, 1972. There is

     some confusion in the record whether this amount is in addition to the

     listed bank accounts. Consequently, we were unable to ascertain the actual

     amount of cash reserves held by OTC.



      FN29. According to petitioner's own records, L. Ron Hubbard received or

     was expected to receive a salary from Worldwide of 10,000 pounds per year,

     while Mary Sue Hubbard was to receive from Worldwide an annual salary of

     6,340 pounds. However, petitioner now asserts that L. Ron Hubbard and Mary

     Sue Hubbard were not actually paid these full amounts during the tax years

     in question. Without endorsing the accuracy of these amounts, we shall use

     them for purposes of our discussion.



      FN30. This scheme draws on L. Ron Hubbard's advice for handling tax

     matters set forth in a policy letter dated June 25, 1967. L. Ron Hubbard

     stated:

     Now as to TAX, why this is mainly anybody's game of what is a PROFIT. The

     thing to do is to assign a significance to the figures before the

     government can. The whole thing is a mess only because arithmetic figures

     are symbols open to ANY significance. So I normally think of a better

     significance than the government can. I always put enough errors on a

     return to satisfy their bloodsucking appetite and STILL come out zero. The

     game of accounting is just a game of assigning significances to figures.

     The man with the most imagination wins. BUT there must be correct figures

     and there must not be gross misassignment of debts as profits or the whole

     thing won't hang together.

     Income tax is a suppressive effort to crush individuals and businesses and

     deprive the state of national gross product (since none can expand). The

     thing which baffles any suppressive is truth. It's the only thing that

     works. Significances one assigns figures are neither true nor false but

     always must be reasonable and DEFENDABLE. And the figures themselves must

     always check out.

     INCOME does not mean profit. One can and should make all the INCOME one

     possible can. Always. The only crime really is to be broke. But when one

     makes INCOME be sure it is accounted for as to its source AND that one

     covers it with expenses and debts. Handling taxation is as simple as that.



      FN31. This cover story underwent modification so that by the time of the

     1971-1974 audit petitioner was claiming that OTC, as petitioner's banking

     agent, was making expenditures ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER.



      FN32. The mock statement was addressed to OTC and had a blank space for

     indicating the name of the Advanced Organization which prepared the

     billing. The mock statement provided four examples of expenditures paid by

     the Advanced Organization on behalf of OTC: (1) a payment for marine fuel

     for the Apollo; (2) a payment to an OTC employee for expenses while on

     field assignment; (3) an airfare payment, and (4) a payment to the captain

     of the Neptune to cover ship's expenses.



      FN33. Those present were: Kima Jason, Assistant to the Deputy Commodore;

     Jane Kember, Guardian Worldwide; and Scott Mayer, a low-level Scientology

     official and later a Government witness.



      FN34. Initially the audit covered just the 1968 tax return. In March 1972

     petitioner's 1969 tax return was added. Office policy required audits to

     cover all back tax years until the taxpayer was brought up to date.



      FN35. Petitioner maintained that the purpose of the IRS audit of its 1968

     and 1969 tax returns was harassment and justified its refusal to cooperate

     on this ground. Our findings on this issue are contained supra at 34-48.



      FN36. In 1973 James Mulligan's title was changed to Commodore Staff

     Guardian Communicator, U.S.



      FN37. The Intelligence Division of the Guardian Office was also referred

     to as 'B-4' or 'Bureau 4.'



      FN38. The Guardian Office trained personnel to filch documents critical of

     Scientology from other organizations.



      FN39. Three other Scientology officials were convicted at the same time.

     One of these officials was not convicted of a crime related to the

     conspiracy of obstructing the IRS. We were unable to tell which churches

     employed the remaining two Scientologists.



      FN40. In footnote 108 of the Church audit report, petitioner represented

     that OTC put its own monies into OTC accounts used by petitioner. IRS Agent

     Eugene Endo initialed footnote 108. His initials signified his agreement

     with the facts in the footnote but not their interpretation. The factual

     portion of footnote 108 states that Church-prepared summaries of OTC

     accounts 'show that in 1971 OTC deposited $2,295,164 into these accounts

     out of total deposits of $3,957,813 or 58%. In 1972 OTC deposited 38%,

     in 1973, 64%, and in 1974, 64%.' The Church audit report contained many

     false representations and material omissions. Respondent did not ratify or

     adopt Agent Endo's admission.



      FN41. Joyce Popham was a signatory on major OTC accounts. She served on

     the OTC board of directors but was also a Flag employee and apparently

     never wrote a check on the OTC accounts.



      FN42. The documents which comprise Exhibit FU are sometimes referred to

     as 'the typewriter-case documents' since they were brought to the IRS in a

     typewriter case.



      FN43. All of the documents in Exhibit HG belong in this category. The

     following pages of Exhibit DU also contain documents in this category: pp.

     1-121, 129-132, 132A-132B, 133-148, 150-201, 225-241.



      FN44. The following pages of Exhibit DU contain documents in this

     category: pp. 210-216, 221-223, 247-249.



      FN45. The following pages of Exhibit DU contain documents in this

     category: 122-128, 149, 202-209, 217-220, 224, 242-246.



      FN46. The Court takes judicial notice of the fact that all indexed

     references to 'no change' cases or reports in the Internal Revenue Manual

     refer to the closing of cases on the basis of no tax liability.



      FN47. Petitioner placed in evidence the 'Foley memorandum' referring to

     the tentative revocation of petitioner's exempt status. The memorandum was

     not written by an IRS employee and petitioner itself questioned the

     trustworthiness of the information in this memorandum.



      FN48. All references to 'Rules' shall refer to the Tax Court Rules of

     Practice and Procedure.



      FN49. Petitioner first raised this argument in a pretrial Motion to Render

     the Notice of Deficiency Nugatory and for Other Relief. The motion was

     denied after a hearing. However, the Court allowed petitioner to present

     evidence on this issue during trial and to reargue it on brief.



      FN50. Petitioner's allegation that it had no opportunity to contest the

     revocation is not borne out.



      FN51. Petitioner avoids defining 'religious income' but concedes it is not

     income gained from nonreligious activities, income gained from religion and

     put to nonreligious uses, income taxed to defray Government services, or

     income earned by ministers and church employees.



      FN52. The tension between these lines of cases was present in Federal

     Communications Commission v. League of Women Voters of California, 468

     U.S. ___, 52 U.S.L.W. 5008 (July 2, 1984). There the Supreme Court

     examined section 399 of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 and found that

     the provision did more than merely prohibit government funding of editorial

     broadcasts by noncommercial television stations; it even barred them from

     using private funds to finance editorial activity. 52 U.S.L.W. at 5017-

     5018. Applying a slightly more exacting standard of review than it

     ordinarily does in broadcasting cases, 52 U.S.L.W. at 5011-5012, the

     Supreme Court held that the statute was an unconstitutional interference

     with First Amendment activities.



      FN53. We note that petitioner has made no attempt to provide a careful

     definition of the claim to exemption it asks us to carve out and protect.

     As a general rule, the more complicated the basis of classification for

     exemption the greater the danger of involving the Government in entangling

     inquiries. Gillette v. United States, 401 U.S. 437, 456-457 (1971); Walz

     v. Tax Commission, 397 U.S. 664, 698-699 (1970) (Harlan, J. concurring).



      FN54. Respondent did not challenge the sincerity or the religiosity of

     this belief, and we, therefore, accept it as a sincerely held tenet of

     Scientology. United States v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252, 257 (1982).



      FN55. In NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 440 U.S. 490 (1979), the

     Supreme Court construed the National Labor Relations Act, holding that it

     did not give the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) jurisdiction over

     schools operated by a church. Noting the risk of entanglement and other

     interferences with religious freedom were the Act to confer jurisdiction

     over church schools, 440 U.S. at 501-504, the Court, in order to avoid

     serious questions about the Act's constitutionality, declined to construe

     the Act to confer such jurisdiction in the absence of an affirmative

     showing that Congress intended to bring church schools under the NLRB's

     jurisdiction. 440 U.S. at 501.



      FN56. We treat this one public policy issue here. As we noted earlier, the

     other public policy issues in this case are considered in section six of

     this opinion.



      FN57. Petitioner tacked on one other constitutional issue in its post-

     trial brief without discussion. Petitioner claims that section 501(c)

     enumerating exempt organizations is arbitrary and capricious because it

     prohibits some exempt organizations but not others from allowing their net

     earnings to inure to the benefit of private individuals. Congress has broad

     discretion in enacting tax legislation, Madden v. Kentucky, 309 U.S. 83,

     87-88 (1940), and the courts will not set aside a legislative

     classification in the tax field if it can be justified under any set of

     facts. United States v. Maryland Savings-Share Insurance Corp., 400 U.S.

     4,6 (1970). The entities which are exempted from the inurement provision

     are either mutual self-help organizations or funds dedicated to the welfare

     of a specific group. These groups by definition have earnings which inure

     to the benefit of private individuals as the inurement provision has been

     construed to prohibit organizations from operating for the benefit of

     members. See secs. 1.501(a)-1(c); 1.501(c)(3)-1(c)(2); Club v. United

     States, 222 F. supp. 151, 153 (E.D. Wash. 1963). See also B. Hopkins,

     The Law of Tax Exempt Organizations, 209-227 (4th ed. 1983). It would be

     self-defeating for Congress to help these groups by granting a tax break in

     one breath and in the very next breath take it away.



      FN58. The exemption for religious charitable and educational organizations

     originated in section 32 of the Act of August 27, 1894, 28 Stat. 509,

     556, which was the first Federal statute to impose an income tax on

     corporations. The congressional debates preceding the enactment do not

     reveal the reasons for the exemptions. However, similar exemptions for

     mutual savings banks and life insurance companies were created because they

     were not operated as businesses for gain. 26 Cong. Rec. 6622-23 (1894).

     Furthermore, the income tax provisions of the Act of August 27, 1894, were

     modeled, in measure, on the English system. 26 Cong. Rec. 6612-13

     (1894).



      FN59. We note the possibility of constitutional infirmity in placing the

     burden of proof on the Church to disprove it violated 18 U.S.C. sec.

     371. Norwood v. Harrison, 413 U.S. 455 (1973) ('(N)o one can be

     required, consistent with due process, to prove the absence of violation of

     law.' 413 U.S. at 471.) However, we need not decide this issue.

     Respondent raised this issue after filing his answer. The parties therefore

     agreed that the burden of proof was upon respondent to show that petitioner

     had an illegal purpose which disqualified it for exemption under section

     501(c)(3). See Rule 142(a).



      FN60. While the Church now claims that its stationary put respondent on

     notice of the status of the United Kingdom Church, the Church obviously did

     not think so in 1967. Writing on Church stationery to the IRS in 1967, the

     Church, in response to a request, listed its subordinate branches failing

     to mention the United Kingdom Church. The stationery in fine print referred

     to petitioner as 'a non-profit corporation in U.S.A. registered in

     England.' In a true display of 'chutzpah' the Church placed the letter in

     evidence as an example of the type of document which should have given IRS

     officials notice that petitioner incorporated the United Kingdom Church.



      FN61. The Church audit report estimates that 38 percent of the Church's

     time was spent on those activities but no substantiation of this estimate

     was ever produced.



      FN62. Two of petitioner's branches, FOLO and USGO, did not provide

     religious services to the public. Flag mainly provided religious services

     to Scientology staff. The United Kingdom Church received a substantial

     portion of its income from franchise tithes. When these payments are added

     in the percentages increase to 88 percent for 1971 and 97 percent for 1972.



      FN63. An excellent illustration of the businesslike philosophy petitioner

     employed in marketing its services is found in HCO PL, November 21, 1969, 6

     OEC 133. This letter provides in relevant part:

     The purpose of this policy letter is to provide a SET FORMAT that can be

     used over and over again by Orgs to find out in their country, area, city,

     community WHAT IS NEEDED AND WANTED. Once this is known to an organization

     it can angle its promotion on it and produce it. For example, an area wants

     more INTELLIGENT PEOPLE AND ACTIONS and LESS STUPIDITY. The Org of the area

     finds out and goes into a promotional programme of 'We can RAISE your IQss

     ' or 'Tired of being STUPID? We can restore your NATURAL INTELLIGENCEs' Of

     course through training and processing an organization can produce this

     exact result.

     If an organization or group does this OVER and OVER CONTINUALLY to keep up

     with the trends and cover new areas its income will ROCKET. A 'Needed and

     Wanted Survey' as laid out below should be done by an org or group AT LEAST

     twice a year and again if the trend seems to be changing or a new area is

     disseminated to. As we expand we REPEAT the action.



      FN64. This purpose of making money lies barely beneath the surface in the

     promotional activities described in HCO PL May 23, 1969 (Issue III), 6 OEC

     91-93, quoted in our findings of fact, supra at 64.



      FN65. Petitioner failed to produce any evidence regarding the actual

     amounts, if any, of such refunds during the tax years at issue.



      FN66. Petitioner also relies on five other cases: Rosenthal v.

     Commissioner, 32 T.C. 225 (1959); Draper v. Commissioner, 6 T.C. 209

     (1946); Greenwood v. Commissioner, 22 B.T.A. 1187 (1931); Webb Press Co.

     v. Commissioner, 9 B.T.A. 238 (1927); Webb Press Co. v. Commissioner,

     3 B.T.A. 247 (1925); Cary Van Fleet v. Commissioner, 2 B.T.A. 825

     (1925). The Rosentahl case involved the question of the applicability of

     the installment method and is clearly inapplicable to the present facts.

     The other four cases are irrelevant because they predate the seminal case

     of North American Oil Consolidated v. Burnet, supra.



      FN67. OTC allegedly received a 1-percent monthly finance handling charge,

     which was computed based on its total disbursements for the month.



      FN68. We find that petitioner's large reserves are a factor indicating

     petitioner had a substantial commercial purpose even under the test

     announced in Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Co. v. Commissioner, __

     F.2d__ (3d Cir. Aug. 29, 1984), revg. 79 T.C. 1070 (1982). In the

     Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Co. case the Third Circuit, relying by

     analogy on the accumulated earnings tax, section 531 et seq., held that

     accumulations of cash may be considered evidence of a commercial purpose

     where they are unexplained by the legitimate needs of the organization, but

     that cash accumulations which are explained and dedicated to meet

     legitimate needs of the organization are not evidence of a non-exempt

     purpose. Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Co. v. Commissioner, (84-2

     USTC P 9764), 743 F.2d 148 (3d Cir. Aug. 29, 1984), slip op. at 18-21.

     See also, Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel Worker Society v. United

     States (81-1 USTC P 9174), 510 F.Supp. 374, 379 and n. 13 (D.D.C.

     1981), affd. without opinion 672 F.2d 894 (D.C. Cir. 1981), cert.

     denied 456 U.S. 944 (1982).

     Petitioner offered several justifications for its large reserves.

     Petitioner claimed that they were needed to purchase a land base for

     petitioner's operations; to protect the Church from its many foes, and to

     pay the Church's tax liability in the event it lost its battle for tax-

     exempt status. It is true that many years later the Church did secure land

     headquarters in Clearwater, Florida. Also, no doubt, the Church needed

     money to protect itself from its detractors. Finally, since the IRS revoked

     the Church's tax-exempt status in 1967, there was a strong likelihood it

     would have to pay taxes.

     However, the bulk of the evidence in the record undermines the legitimacy

     of these justifications, so that we have no difficulty in concluding that

     the reserves were accumulated to make money for the Church and its leaders.

     Thus, although the Church eventually secured land headquarters, this was

     done several years after the reserves were built up. Furthermore, the

     Church failed to introduce any evidence of the cost of the new headquarters

     in Clearwater, Florida or that reserves were used to pay for the premises.

     We also note that, although the purported purpose of the Trust was the

     defense of Scientology, only one small disbursement was made for this

     purpose during the docketed years. The Church presented no evidence that

     the amount of its reserves bore any relationship to its anticipated needs.

     These facts alone cast doubt on the Church's stated reasons for

     accumulating reserves. However, what compels us further to conclude that

     the Church's justifications are mere pretense is the manner in which the

     reserves were maintained. They belonged to a bogus trust and a sham

     corporation and were mostly held in cash and numbered Swiss bank accounts.

     Under these facts the Church has not carried its burden in demonstrating

     that the reserves were accumulated to further its tax-exempt purposes.

     In light of our conclusion, we need not decide whether we concur in the

     Third Circuit's reversal in Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Co. v.

     Commissioner, supra.



      FN69. Indeed, petitioner concedes as much on brief.



      FN70. Indeed, in light of L. Ron Hubbard's degree of control over

     petitioner, there could be no independent negotiations between L. Ron

     Hubbard and petitioner.



      FN71. We are not at all convinced that these records represent the total

     amount of such alleged debt repayments in light of John McLean's testimony.

     McLean credibly testified that, during the fall of 1972, statistics were

     posted aboard the Apollo each week showing the amount of weekly payments to

     L. Ron Hubbard. According to McLean, the weekly payments to L. Ron Hubbard

     which were posted pursuant to the policy letter of September 7, 1972,

     ranged between $7,000 and $22,000 per week. We credit McLean's testimony on

     this point.



      FN72. Petitioner's counsel acknowledged his awareness of the negative

     inferences that could be drawn from the Church's failure to produce a

     witness. Nevertheless he represented that petitioner would not allow L. Ron

     Hubbard to appear as a witness thereby tacitly confirming the California

     Church's ability to produce him.



      FN73. Respondent's agents spent about 20 hours trying to serve Greenberg

     with a subpoena. They were not successful. However, several Church

     witnesses spoke with Greenberg during the course of the trial and found him

     in good health.



      FN74. Petitioner raises two other objections to the public policy

     requirement we have read into section 501(c)(3). First petitioner claims

     that the Bob Jones Court reserved ruling on the applicability of charitable

     law public policy standards to churches. We disagree. We believe the Bob

     Jones opinion unqualifiedly held that all organizations seeking exemption

     under 501(c)(3) must comply with fundamental standards of public policy.

     Ruling was limited only on the second issue presented in the case--whether

     the particular fundamental interest in eradicating racial discrimination

     could be applied to churches. In any event, we believe that the application

     of public policy requirements to churches does not in and of itself offend

     the constitution. Churches are not above the law. Historically there have

     been a number of compelling governmental interests justifying curtailment

     of religious liberty. See, e.g., Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145

     (1878) (monogamy); Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of

     Latter-Day Saints v. United States, 136 U.S. 1 (1890) (monogamy);

     Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905) (control of smallpox);

     Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158 (1944) (protection of children

     from exploitative labor); Gillette v. United States, 401 U.S. 437

     (1971) (conscription); United States v. Lee, 455 U.S. 252

     (1982) (soundness of the social security system). If the Government has the

     power to prohibit religious practices outright which interfere with

     fundamental public interests, and even to deny corporate existence for

     engaging in such practices, Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ

     of Latter-Day Saints v. United State s, supra, then a fortiori it has

     the power to deny tax benefits to churches which espouse and practice such

     beliefs.

     Petitioner also claims that this Court's interpretation of the public

     policy requirement is an overboard regulation of its free exercise rights.

     Prior to trial this Court ruled that petitioner must comply with

     fundamental public policy such as may be evidenced in a civil or criminal

     statute. Respondent did not rely on this definition. Except for some brief

     cross-examination at the very beginning of the trial, respondent confined

     his case to showing petitioner conspired to defraud the Government in

     violation of 18 U.S.C. sec. 371. Since petitioner does not dispute that

     a charitable trust is invalid if it has an illegal purpose, petitioner's

     overbreadth claim is moot.



      FN75. Organizations qualifying for tax-exempt status under section

     501(c)(3) are doubly rewarded. Not only do they not have to pay taxes, but

     they also stand in a better position to attract income since taxpayers who

     contribute to section 501(c)(3) organizations are permitted by section

     170(c)(2) to deduct the amount of their contributions on their Federal tax

     returns.



      FN76. Subsequent to the decision in Coit v. Green, 404 U.S. 997 (1971),

     the Supreme Court has twice questioned its precedential value. See Allen v.

     Wright, 468 U.S. ___, 52 U.S.L.W. 5110, 5117 (July 3, 1984); Bob Jones

     University v. Simon, 416 U.S. 725, 740 n. 11 (1974). We find this of

     little significance for notice purposes. What is important is that in 1971

     the decision was 'on the books' and informed petitioner that a charitable

     organization could not qualify for a tax exemption if it had an illegal

     purposes or violated public policy.



      FN77. Petitioner introduced several disbursement vouchers for impeachment

     all signed by John McLean save one which was signed simply with the name

     'Karen.' The Court only credits the disbursement vouchers signed by John

     McLean. These show that following the incident which occurred on June 18,

     1971 McLean was taken off the payroll until July 13, 1971. However, even if

     the voucher signed 'Karen' were taken into account, John McLean at least

     went without pay for the week ending June 24, 1971.



      FN78. Petitioner also objects to the introduction of the OEC series on

     constitutional grounds claiming entanglement. We have treated this

     objection supra at 123-125.



      FN79. On redirect examination petitioner's witness Fran Harris said this

     index was not exhaustive. We do not believe this aspect of her testimony

     since the statement contradicts her earlier testimony and was only elicited

     after repeated questioning by counsel.



      FN80. Although the Supreme Court in Emich Motors Corp. v. General Motors

     Corp., 340 U.S. 558 (1951), was construing sec. 5 of the Clayton Act,

     15 U.S.C. sec. 16(a), the language of the decision suggests that the

     Court felt it was applying general principles regarding the estoppel effect

     of a prior criminal conviction. See 4 Weinstein's Evidence par.

     803(22) (01), p. 803-274 nn. 19, 20 (1981).



      FN81. The seal on Exhibit FX was lifted by the District Court for the

     District of Columbia by orders dated October 25, 1979 and October 30, 1980.

     It was reimposed by order of the District Court dated November 5, 1980 on

     remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of

     Columbia. United States v. Hubbard, 650 F.2d 293, 295 n. 1 and 332-333

     (D.C. Cir. 1980).



      FN82. In his Trial Memorandum filed October 3, 1980, respondent stated

     that petitioner's net earnings inured to the benefit of L. Ron Hubbard

     through 'the diversion of large sums from petitioner to Hubbard utilizing

     sham entities know as O.T.C. and O.T.S. which were completely controlled

     and dominated by Hubbard.' Respondent also said he would put on witnesses

     to show 'petitioner * * * (and) entities known as 'O.T.C.' and 'O.T.S.'

     constitute, in substance, a single organization under Hubbard's absolute

     and total control.' Respondent's Trial Memorandum filed October 3, 1980 at

     pp. 6, 47.



      FN83. In some cases, even the Commissioner's attempt to raise a new legal

     theory comes so late in the day that it cannot be heard because of its

     prejudicial impact on petitioner. United States v. First Security Bank,

     334 F.2d 120, 122 (9th Cir. 1964); Riss v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 388,

     400-401 (1971), affd. sub. nom. Commissioner v. Transport Manufacturing and

     Equipment Co., 478 F.2d 731 (8th Cir. 1973). See also cases collected

     supra at 138-139.