Clergy housing allowance

The Clergy Housing Allowance is an allowance paid to ordained ministers in Canada and the United States. This is income which is not taxed. {26 U.S. Code § 107}

In November 2013, the clergy housing allowance faced judicial opposition. In Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. Lew, the Federal District Court of the Western District of Wisconsin issued a decision holding that the allowance violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. However, the Justice Department appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Court reversed the decision, thereby protecting the housing allowance for clergy who serve churches, synagogues, mosques, and other worshiping groups.