Breaking: Federal District Court Declares A Religious Income Tax Exemption Unconstitutional

[Cal Carpenter]

21. I understand your point

and I know there are situations where a very well-paid minister also gets fancy free housing.

But in a relatively accountable church like hers, she isn't getting paid a whole lot, and the housing isn't just a 'benefit', it's part of her obligation as a worker - she is on the same property as the church and that's because she is basically on the job 24/7.

I have a major problems with churches themselves not paying taxes on all the incredibly valuable properties they own. Whereas I see her as a worker who doesn't have the benefit of owning anything, and who is being asked to carry the burden of the church's tax-exempt status.

I want to be clear - IMO, the church tax-exempt thing is bunk. But I see this court decision as putting the burden on the worker(s), not on the church, and that doesn't seem fair to me at all. If she were a mega-church millionaire it would be one thing, but she is paid a middle class wage and living in a very expensive city. Her real income ($$) is already taxed like anyone else's. To tax her on the 'value' of the housing and to treat that as income, I just don't see it adding up.

I see it as a drop in the bucket of all the taxes that churches are avoiding, and I see it putting the burden on the wrong people - the workers, rather than the owners.

Anyway, I'm not trying to be argumentative, just thinking it through. I'm not a church-goer, fwiw.