Judge Strikes Down Housing Tax Break for Pastors

Judge Strikes Down Housing Tax Break for Pastors

(UPDATED) Longstanding IRS exemption—last revised after Rick Warren dispute in 2002—currently saves pastors and other clergy $700 million per year.
Katelyn Beaty [ posted 11/24/2013 02:15PM ]

Update (Nov. 25): Richard Hammar, senior editor of CT sister publication Church Law & Tax Report, offers five takeaways from Friday's housing allowance ruling, including his thoughts on the ruling's limited yet significant impact and a possible workaround available to Congress.

His advice while the appeals process shakes out: "Churches should continue to designate housing allowances for ministerial employees for 2014, and church pension plans should continue to designate housing allowances for retired ministers."

Meanwhile, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) stated the decision is "sending shockwaves through the religious community, ... leaving many ministers wondering what the impact of this case will be." ECFA's take:

"This ruling [if not overturned] in effect would force clergy of nearly every religion across America to pay additional taxes, regardless of faith or creed. This will either force congregations to increase clergy compensation to offset these taxes or require pastors to dig deep to see if they are able to absorb these taxes."

...

CT previously noted how, after the FFRF's first challenge was dismissed due to lack of standing, the FFRF changed the way it compensated its co-presidents so that they received a housing allowance similar to many pastors. The federal government recently offered a novel defense: that atheist leaders could qualify as "ministers of the gospel." Crabb's ruling rejects this idea. Howard Friedman of Religion Clause explains more.

Such housing allowances last came under scrutiny in 2002 when the IRS challenged megachurch pastor Rick Warren on his housing allowance claim of more than $70,000, leading Congress to revise the law and limit allowances to "the fair rental value of the home." (CT offered its own take in an editorial.)

According to CT sister resource Managing Your Church, the average base salary of a full-time senior pastor in 2012-2013 ranges from $33,000 to $70,000. Eighty-four percent of senior pastors surveyed said they also receive a housing allowance, which accounts for $20,000 to $38,000 in added compensation. The Joint Committee on Taxation calculates the exemption amounted to $700 million in recent years, notes Peter Reilly of Forbes.

...

(Continued on/at link.)

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My comments:

The IRS's Legal Attorneys are the deficit of this Tax Break, they are the rulers of the empire.

The IRS's Legal Attorneys do this to ensure the public of safe health and common goods and trades.

When they ensured the people in this article that everything would be alright, THEY LIED.

THey lie all the time, or at least, the lot, or a lot.
Not Aloft.

Aloft they set sail on the midsts of winter, in the winter garden.

That's right.

What I mean by that is is the fact that they did this to ensure them that they are in legal grounds and issues the bonds of the tax exemptation, TEMPTATION.

That's right, they taxified they, them to the morning star of the ROMANIAN GUARD

AND ROMANIAN GUARD MEANING TAX DEFICITS.

That's right, they are the legal grounders, bounders of old and romanian infrastructure in the legal boundaries of their common wealth and good.

That's right, they are the ensuerers, the ensures , the insurance companies, the unsurers, the insurers, the ensURERS of the taxemplifyied, or taxemplified interdimensional great creation of the great common wealth of people.

So they are in legal bounds, or bonds, or boundaries of their legal ground deficit in the wealth of common good of people.

They must do this to ensure the common people that they are in legal rights and demands on their property goods and proprietary goods as well.

They are the slave masters of old and new, and they are also in the right legal bounds of their boundaries.

The end, I think.

[link to www.christianitytoday.com]