Parsonage Exclusion Found By Seventh Circuit To Be Constitutional

On March 15, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held in Gaylor v. Mnuchin that the tax exemption for "ministers of the gospel" (defined below) under Section 107(2) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code") does not violate the Establishment Clause¹ of the First Amendment and, therefore, is constitutional, overruling the district court decision.²

In Gaylor, the Freedom From Religion Foundation (the "FFRF")³ sued the Treasury Department after the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") denied the refund claims of FFRF's co-presidents who sought to exclude the portion of their salaries paid in the form of a housing allowance. The central issue in the case on appeal was whether the district court was correct in holding that the exclusion for housing allowances under Section 107(2) is a law "respecting an establishment of religion."