Parsonage: Religious Liberty Smuggles Sex Discrimination Into Tax Law
The stipend is a nice gesture and I applaud, but ironically it makes the case for 107(2) at least in this context being a straight up subsidy. The college doesn’t have to pay the men as much, because of their religious status which has nothing to do with the work that they do.
I’m not that much of a constitutional purist, but 107(2) is really in need of an overhaul due to the abuse that is going on. First off it needs a dollar ceiling like just about every other housing provision. I’d go with $50,000 because I like round numbers and that is about what a two-star general gets in an expensive part of the country.
And if the rationale is the special requirements of parish ministry substitute “community spiritual leader” or something like that for “minister of the gospel”. Define “community spiritual leader” in terms of actual face to face activity in a defined geographic area. That will cut out the televangelists, denominational leaders, professors, and basketball ministers and create parity among churches that have tighter or looser standards for who is a minister.
Discrepancy or Discrimination? Doesn’t matter
I inquired why some of the men I worked with were considered ministers and thus, eligible for the ministerial housing allowance tax benefit while the women I worked with were not considered eligible
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Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.