George Thompson was in Tax Court not to appeal the amount of tax that he owed. That was not in dispute. It was nearly $900,000. There were company payroll taxes that he was personally responsible for from 2004, 2005 and 2007. There were also individual income taxes going back as far as 1992. Mr. Thompson was arguing about how much he was able to pay.
Petitioner has been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Church) his entire life and has regularly contributed 10% of his monthly income to the Church. Petitioner is actively involved in the Church and holds a position as a shift coordinator in the Church’s Manhattan Temple. Additionally, petitioner is a stake scouting coordinator for the Church and is responsible for overseeing six scout troops in different congregations in New Jersey. Petitioner was not compensated by the Church for his shift coordinator or stake scouting coordinator responsibilities.
Mr. Thompson argued that the tithe was a necessary expense since it was required to hold his church offices. That argument might have worked if he was a minister, who was required to tithe as a a condition of his paid employment.
Petitioner argues that the settlement officer’s classification of his tithing as a conditional expense violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment because if he is not able to tithe then his Church will require him to resign his ministerial positions with the Church. Petitioner contends that the settlement officer’s classification of petitioner’s tithe as a conditional expense is tantamount to the settlement officer deciding who can be a minister in petitioner’s Church.
Nice try, but no cigar.......
The Court was not buying that argument:
However, petitioner overlooks the fact that it is his Church who is requiring him to resign his positions if he does not tithe. The settlement officer did not require petitioner to resign his positions nor did she pressure the Church to require petitioner to resign. The Free Exercise Clause prohibits the Government from interfering in a church’s selection of its ministers.