Ministers and federal subsidies

Via Pharyngula, here's something to think about when you're preparing your taxes in the next few months. You know that churches are tax-free, of course. But did you know that ministers get special treatment in the U.S. tax code?

How special? Well, this tax preparer has posted an example. How about a total tax bill of $740 on an income of $105,000 (actually, he got a refund, if you include child tax credits), compared to the $18,826 in tax you or I would have to pay?

This is unfair.  What makes his profession so special that he is able to take deductions that no one else can?  Why is he able to elect out of social security?  Why is he able to deduct his mortgage interest and property taxes twice?

To top it off, he wrote a letter to our firm asking for a discounted preparation fee because he is a minister of humble means.  It made me sick to my stomach.

Heh, heh. Yeah, a "minister of humble means." Right.

Yes, the tax code is unfair in other ways, too - for example, in giving such a huge tax break to investment income, when a working stiff has to pay the full rate on his paycheck. But just because there are other wrongs, that doesn't make this any less wrong.

But don't expect it to be changed any time soon, either. American politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, are terrified of seeming to be "anti-Christian."