Federal Judge Strikes Down Clergy Housing Allowance

on November 27, 2013

A federal judge has ruled that the provision of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 107(2)) that grants clergy the benefit of declaring a portion of their salary as a tax-free housing allowance violates the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution.

Under the section ministers, priests, imams, and rabbis could set aside a portion of their gross income and avoid paying income tax on that income if it is used to provide housing:

 [T]he rental allowance paid to him as part of his compensation, to the extent used by him to rent or provide a home and to the extent such allowance does not exceed the fair rental value of the home, including furnishings and appurtenances such as a garage, plus the cost of utilities.

The section dealing with in-kind allowances remains intact since the court ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the suit. This means that clergy who are provided with a house as part of their compensation will not be liable for tax on the fair rental value of the house despite its providing part of their compensation.

The exclusion of clergy from being liable for the value of housing that forms apart of their compensation dates from 1921. In 1954 the exclusion was extended to include not only in-kind but cash allowances.

The rule was further clarified after a lawsuit involving Baptist mega-church minister Rick Warren. Warren contended that the entirety of his salary could be designated as a housing allowance thereby reducing his income tax liability to zero. In 2002 in response to the litigation, the rule was altered by Congress to comply with the Tax Court ruling: “to the extent such allowance does not exceed the fair rental value of the home.”

The Friday decision could have significant financial ramifications for priests, pastors, imams and rabbis across the country. Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Inc and one of the plaintiffs in action framed the issues as one of fairness. She and her co-plaintiffs objected to the government extending a benefit to religious professionals exclusively on the basis of their religious vocation and, further, in the absence of any burden the benefit was designed to alleviate.

It’s estimated that the exclusion causes the treasury to forego about $700,000,000 in tax revenue per year. That’s a fairly insignificant amount in the grand scheme of the U.S. economy compared to, say, the home mortgage interest deduction, which annually costs the government $100 billion in tax revenue.

Now that the cash allowance provision has been struck down, and assuming it is neither not appealed or appeals fail, it is unlikely that the immediate effect will be a surge of cash to the treasury.

In all likelihood there will be a significant increase in churches that purchase a manse and provide it to their pastor as part of compensation, still permissible and tax-free. The main reason for the expansion of the exclusion to include cash allowances was due to the decades-long real estate boom. Clergy who were housed by their parishes potentially missed out on the wealth-building tool of home ownership. Once again living in the manse appears to be the most appealing option.

The legal rationale underlying the decision is not particularly well developed. Most of the discussion centers on whether or not the plaintiffs have standing to bring the suit in the first place.

The defendants claimed that since the plaintiffs were not harmed by the benefit they had no legal right to pursue the suit. The court held that since the Freedom From Religion Foundation had elected to designate a portion of their co-presidents’ salary as housing allowance and had not received a tax benefit from it (on the basis of their not being clergy)—even though the IRS has yet to actually deny the exclusion—they had standing to bring the suit because they had suffered harm from the provision of the code. The Court agreed.

In a bizarre twist the government argued that the plaintiffs could potentially be able to receive the housing allowance since their work was religious. They performed “de-baptisms,” for example, to help people renounce their Christian faith.

The decision examines this question of atheist “ministers of the gospel,” and concludes that even if there could be such a thing the co-presidents of the Freedom from Religion Foundation could not be categorized as such. In order to be considered clergy a person must satisfy five conditions including 1) performing sacerdotal functions under the tenets of their religion, 2) conducting services of worship, 3) perform their duties under the authority of a church denomination, 4) be ordained, commissioned, or licensed, and 5) be considered a spiritual leader by his denomination. Despite their work being related to religion (i.e., its eradication from the public sphere) neither Barker nor Gaylor satisfied these conditions.

The ruling enjoins the IRS from allowing the exclusion to be claimed and goes into effect either when all appeals of the matter are exhausted or, should the defendants choose not to appeal, by the deadline for that appeal to be filed.

It’s unclear whether or not the government will choose to appeal the trial court decision. The Obama administration has a history of failing to enforce laws it does not agree with. For example, the Justice Department refusing to litigate any matters related to the Defense of Marriage Act. Any litigation defending the act was paid for and provided by Congressional Republicans. What is clear, however, is that the decision will make life considerably more difficult for clergy of all faiths, the vast majority of whom are not remunerated lavishly and for whom the clergy housing allowance was a benefit that made their lives and the lives of their parishes considerably easier.

Text of the decision: http://www.scribd.com/doc/186404063/FFRF-v-Geithner-Parsonage-Exemption

  1. Comment by cleareyedtruthmeister on November 27, 2013 at 4:57 pm

    This is the same judge–a Democrat appointee (Jimmy Carter)–who also declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. Her decision was later reversed.

  2. Comment by Jeff Gissing on November 29, 2013 at 11:07 am

    You are correct. It’ll be interesting to see if the ruling is appealed.

  3. Comment by JR on November 30, 2013 at 5:20 pm

    A significant purpose for the housing allowance being permitted in correlation with a parsonage allowance is to permit a minister to own a home so that they have a home when they retire from the ministry. Ministers that live only in church provided parsonages throughout their active working ministry have no home when they retire. This places a tremendous financial burden on the clergy because their income is very likely to decrease in retirement, and they would also be forced to either purchase a home without the benefit of any prior equity, or they must rent for the rest of their lives.

  4. Comment by Earl Foote on December 3, 2013 at 7:40 pm

    I think that the tax-free benefit should be limited. Why should my bishop, who makes more than $150,000/year, be given a tax-free housing allowance? I can understand providing for a cleric who is at the low end of the income scale, but most clergy (at least Protestant), in fact, earn more money than I do, and I have to pay tax on all of my income. Also, why don’t other church employees, such as secretaries and sextons, who are paid much lower salaries with fewer benefits, get the housing allowance? This gives the most amount of help to people who least need it. And as for those poor retirees who “never bought a house”–well, they got one for free! Have they ever heard of saving up for retirement, like the rest of us?

  5. Comment by John S on December 4, 2013 at 7:52 am

    If we would just simplify the tax code, eliminating deductions, credits, etc this would all be gone. The bigger question is: Should clergy receive a tax break based on their status as clergy? Yes, the power to tax is the power to destroy but if clergy are taxed the same as their congregants what real excuse is there to not tax them? This is not an Islamic country with special taxes on Christians.

  6. Comment by Norman Ramsey on December 4, 2013 at 8:58 am

    As a pastor, I benefit from the parsonage exclusion for tax purposes but I still pay 15+% self employment taxes on that amount. In practical terms what does it mean for me? As a UM pastor, I am under appointment and live in a church-provided parsonage. That’s nice. Meanwhile, my actual home is counted as a second home, is not eligible for HARP refinancing and is going downhill fast so that when I do retire I will have to spend a second time what it took to fix it up the first time. Just to say, nothing in life is free – even living in a church owned parsonage!

  7. Comment by John S on December 5, 2013 at 7:28 am

    My second home dropped in value at least 50%, its my second home since I can’t sell it unless I drop the price to about 25% of what I paid for it and even then its iffy. The assessment dropped about a third. Mine was less the victim of the housing bubble than a general economic collapse in the area. Thus it is also second as I moved to an area with jobs.
    But really is any of this relevant? I was stuck with homes when I was in the military and got orders to move, on short notice, at bad times to try and sell a house. The military has a tax free housing allowance since it is cheaper in the long run to the government to provide an allowance rather than put the money into regular pay.

    Tax exemptions for religious organizations are going to come under increasing scrutiny as government obligations increase and funds decrease. Unless they can articulate now, a good reason for the preferential treatment, the exemptions will soon be gone. Is there a good reason?

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