In a sleeper of a case that will now surely turn into front-page news, a US district court in Wisconsin decided yesterday that a long-standing major tax benefit only available to a "minister of the gospel" was an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause. The decision means that church leaders can no longer claim a deduction for large portions of their income as a tax-free "housing allowance".
This is a BIG deal for a lot of ministers - particularly the leaders of megachurches who can no longer shelter millions of dollars of income by sinking it into lavish mansions. There will also be a lot of pain felt by more than a few Mormon and Scientology leaders. The tax man has finally cometh for these folks.
The ruling is almost certain to be appealed - there's actually a procedural issue not related to the central question that may get it all pitched out on a technicality -but at least for now part of the US will be reaping a little extra tax income from a few unlucky individuals.
Full text of the court's decision is here.
Cheers,
Luke.
This is a BIG deal for a lot of ministers - particularly the leaders of megachurches who can no longer shelter millions of dollars of income by sinking it into lavish mansions. There will also be a lot of pain felt by more than a few Mormon and Scientology leaders. The tax man has finally cometh for these folks.
The ruling is almost certain to be appealed - there's actually a procedural issue not related to the central question that may get it all pitched out on a technicality -but at least for now part of the US will be reaping a little extra tax income from a few unlucky individuals.
Full text of the court's decision is here.
Cheers,
Luke.
via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=269065&goto=newpost
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