National Republican Senatorial Committee Calls Clergy Housing Benefit A Tax Dodge
This is not a case of someone stretching the law or finding a questionable loophole. Chastising Warnock for receiving a tax-free parsonage allowance would be equivalent to criticizing him for buying tax-exempt bonds or paying capital gains rates on his capital gains. It is not hypocrisy to advocate for higher taxes while taking full advantage of the existing provisions in the code.
New York AG Report – Lots Of Lies – Not A Lot Of Federal Tax Avoidance
The “before” value creates most of the controversy. There is a mini-industry of syndicated conservation easements that is based on fantasy valuations. I have written a lot about the issue. When you overstate the “before” value of a property, you can end up understating your tax liability by inflating your charitable deductions. That is the income tax issue in the complaint.
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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.