The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a lawsuit challenging the housing exemption for ministers.
According to the lawsuit, ministers who qualify for the exemption can exclude the costs of everything from a down payment and home mortgage to maintenance costs and equipment from income for tax purposes.
The exemption was adopted in 1954, "as a reaction to the Cold War antipathy to atheism" and was intended to subsidize and favor churches, the lawsuit said.
In order to apply, however, the IRS must review sensitive and intrusive information to decide whether certain activities qualify and whether a person is a member of the clergy.
"These and other determinations result in 'excessive entanglement' between church and state contrary to the Establishment Clause," the lawsuit states.
