PTL Loses Appeal on Tax Status

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal appeals court today cleared the way for the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the PTL television ministry’s tax-exempt status.

The IRS wants to revoke PTL’s exempt status in part because PTL had used contributions to fund the lavish life styles of Jim Bakker and his wife, Tammy, said IRS lawyer Francis Allegra. Today’s unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by U.S. District Judge Karen L. Henderson of Columbia, S.C.