HB 848: Tax Exemption for Clergy

Big Concept Resources

• Parsonage Allowance: Meaning and Qualifications
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clergy_housing_allowance
• PA Tax Code – Income Tax (that is being amended) 
• Census Data on Clergy: https://datausa.io/profile/soc/clergy#:~:text=Demographic%20information%20on%20Clergy%20in,ethnicity%20for%20Clergy%20is%20White.

Cons

• Establishment Clause Violation
  • https://s3.amazonaws.com/becketnewsite/District-Court-Opinion-in-Gaylor-v-Mnuchin.pdf (See page 4 re Federal Exemption)
  • https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1652&context=faculty_scholarship
• Allows Pastors to Double Dip
  • https://tldrify.com/1dx5
• Doesn’t go far enough
• PA Property Tax Still taxes Parsonages:  https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11402&context=ilj (search “Pennsylvania”)
• Property Tax Data: https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/property-taxes-by-state-county-2023/
• Post-Covid Pastoring: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2024-01-11/us-pastors-struggle-with-post-pandemic-burnout-survey-shows-half-considered-quitting-since-2020#:~:text=More%20than%204%20in%2010,Hartford%20Institute%20for%20Religion%20Research.

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