By Will Hall, Message Editor For the second time in four years, a federal judge in Madison, Wisconsin, has ruled unconstitutional the tax benefit related to housing allowances for pastors and clergy. Judge Barbara Crabb, appointed in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, ruled in favor of the atheistic Freedom from Religion Foundation, also located in Madison, in a lawsuit that claims such a federal tax break discriminates against secular persons. BACKGROUND Crabb issued the same ruling in 2013, but the conservative U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago later threw it out, saying the foundation was not directly affected and had no legal standing to file suit. Consequently, the anti-Christian group asked the IRS to grant the tax benefit to two FRFF co-presidents. When the IRS declined to extend the benefit to the non-profit executives, the group filed the current lawsuit. At issue is a 1954 law which permitted religious clergy to exclude from federal taxes part or all of their gross income that is related to housing costs. These exclusions include: (1) rent, principal payments, or down payments plus the cost of buying the home; (2) taxes and mortgage interest (even if these are includable as itemized … [Read more...]