On Wednesday February 8, 2012, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta overturned a decision made by the United State Tax Court(Commissioner vs. Driscoll) regarding the ability for a clergy to claim more than one home as a housing allowance tax exclusion.
In May 2010, a United State Tax Court finalized a ruling, from a 4-3 vote(in December 2010), that the term “home” in Section 107 of the United States Tax Code could be considered to be plural, meaning multiple homes could be used under Section 107 of the United States Tax Code. In February 2012, a panel of three judges in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the opposite stating that “the word “home” does not readily support plural connotations.” Therefore, with this definition of the word “home,” Phil Driscoll would not be allowed to use multiple homes for his housing allowance exclusion.
It is expected that Phil Driscoll will continue through the appeals process.
The entire Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal ruling can be found here
See Previous Articles
– June 16, 2011: Department of Justice Appeals “Multiple Home” Housing Allowance Ruling
– January 14, 2011: New Tax Court Ruling on Clergy Housing Allowance & Multiple Homes
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