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Mr. Hairston: No. I am not opposed to the -- to that, as a
religious issue, no.
We were advised to -- by our accountant,
to file for an exemption with the State,
providing the State would allow it. And we
asked the State to allow it, which they did.
Although petitioner signed an exemption application stating
that he is opposed to public insurance because of his religious
principles, the Court finds petitioner's trial testimony to be
more compelling. The application for exemption contained
numerous significant mistakes, including the date that petitioner
was ordained and the religious body that ordained petitioner. It
is obvious that petitioner did not carefully review the
application. In view of the significant mistakes made on the
application, it is possible that petitioner did not even read the
application, including the statement certifying that the
applicant is opposed to public insurance, prior to signing the
Form 4361.
We hold that petitioner has failed to prove that he is
opposed to public insurance as is required by section 1402(e)(1)
in order to qualify for exemption from the self-employment tax.
Petitioner is therefore liable for self-employment taxes for the
taxable years 1988, 1989, and 1990.4
4 We note that for the taxable year 1990, petitioners are
entitled to deduct from gross income one-half of their self-
employment tax liability pursuant to sec. 164(f).
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