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August 28, 2002
Union
Of Orthodox Jewish Congregations Welcomes Dismissal Of Challenge To Clergy
Tax Allowance
Today,
the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – through its
Institute for Public Affairs – welcomed the decision Monday by a federal
appeals panel to dismiss a case questioning the constitutionality of a tax
allowance for housing costs enjoyed by the nation’s clergy.
The suit claimed that the “parsonage allowance,” which allows clergy to
deduct fair market housing costs from their federal taxes, was a violation
of the First Amendment’s ban on the establishment of religion. A three
judge panel of the California-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit had unilaterally ordered the I.R.S. and a Baptist Minister who
were litigating whether the minister had claimed too much of a deduction
on his taxes to present arguments to the court as to the provision’s
constitutionality. In response to this unexpected threat to the
longstanding parsonage exemption, the Orthodox Union joined with other
faith-groups to file briefs with the court defending the parsonage
provision and encouraged the U.S. Congress to enact legislation clarifying
this provision’s parameters and thereby moot the litigation. Congress
passed the legislation overwhelmingly and President Bush signed it into
law in June.
Nathan Diament, director of the Union’s Institute, stated in reaction to
the case’s dismissal that “the Orthodox Jewish community is very gratified
that this episode is over. The parsonage provision is a very important
element of America and we are gratified that its status will no longer be
disrupted by pending litigation.”
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