Judge Stays Order to Revoke PTL Tax Status

A federal appeals judge has temporarily halted attempts by the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status of PTL, the evangelical empire founded by Jim Bakker.

In an order filed this week in Richmond, Va., U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William Wilkins stayed a lower court ruling revoking PTL’s tax exemption. Wilkins set a March 31 hearing in Greenville, S.C., where lawyers for PTL are expected to argue that loss of its tax-exempt status would be a death blow to the organization.

Wilkins’ stay gives PTL breathing room as it tries to meet a May 1 deadline to reorganize itself with a new tax exemption under the protection of the federal bankruptcy court.