By Robert Dilday, Associated Baptist Press with BJC Staff Reports
The Justice Department has appealed a federal court ruling that said an IRS tax exemption allowing clergy to avoid paying taxes on a part of their income designated as a housing allowance violates the constitutionally mandated separation of church and state.
The department filed a notice of appeal with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on Jan. 24.
Last November, Senior United States District Judge Barbara Crabb said a section of the tax code granting a benefit for “ministers of the gospel” not available to everyone else favors religion over non-religion, thus creating an establishment of religion prohibited by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
But Crabb, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, stayed her decision pending appeals, leaving the law intact in that state for the time being.
If the 7th Circuit affirms Crabb’s ruling, it would affect only Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana, but might prompt the Internal Revenue Service to apply the ruling nationally to ensure consistent tax treatment of ministers.
If the appellate court overturns the ruling, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which filed the suit, could petition the Supreme Court for review.
From the February 2014 Report from the Capital. Click here for the next article.
