WSJ: “Tax Break for Clergy Questioned”

Earlier this year, the Tax Court held in Driscoll v, Commissioner, 135 T.C. No. 27 that minister Phil Driscoll could claim a housing allowance under Internal Revenue Code section 107 for expenses related to his second home as well as for expenses related to his first home.  Mr. Driscoll had previously been convicted of tax evasion.

Now an article in the Wall Street Journal reports that Senator Charles Grassley, who previously questioned the compensation and other financial practices of six megachurches, is asking whether the ruling violates the spirit, if not the letter, of section 107.  Especially in the era of concerns about the debt, it will be interested to see if Congress decides some tightening of the housing allowance’s generosity is appropriate.

LHM