Atheists target clergy’s tax break for housing

A long-standing tax break for clergy and other "ministers of the
gospel" is facing the lastest in a string of challenges in federal
court. The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation filed suit
September 13 to challenge the constitutionality of tax deductions that
clergy are allowed to claim on their housing expenses.

The tax
break, called a parish exemption, allows clergy to deduct income that is
designated as a housing allowance, including rental payments and
mortgage interest. Such allowances are a common way for religious
congregations to boost the value of modest clergy salaries.

The
suit names Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Internal Revenue
Service Commissioner Douglas Shul­man. The plaintiffs are Dan Barker and
Annie Laurie Gaylor, copresidents of FFRF, and Anne Nicol Gaylor, a
past president and cofounder. Annie Laurie Gaylor is executive editor of
Freethought Today.