Appeals Filed On Ruling That Exemption Of Clergy Housing Allowances Is Unconstitutional
The United States and intervenors represented by the Becket Fund have filed appeals in the Seventh Circuit challenging Judge Barbara Crabb’s October ruling that tax exemption of cash housing allowances to “ministers of the gospel” violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Miami Developer Denied Large Loss Due To S Corporation Basis Issues
Being an accountant, I think that Mr. Meruelo really did get a raw deal here. If Merco had been an LLC taxed as a partnership instead of an S corporation, it likely would have worked out. Of course there might have been medicare tax then if the project had been a winner instead of a loser, but maybe not. The other thing that might have saved him was more meticulous bookkeeping among the various entities, rather than a lot of “due to” “due from” transactions to be sorted out by the accountant preparing the tax returns. This case is a good illustration of Reilly’s Fourth Law of Tax Planning – Execution isn’t everything but it is a lot.
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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.