Oscar Haimowitz - Page 2

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               After concessions by petitioner2, the sole issue for                   
          decision3 is whether petitioner may exclude $3,705 from gross               
          income as a parsonage allowance pursuant to section 107(2).                 
                                     Background                                       
               Some of the facts have been stipulated, and they are so                
          found.  The stipulation of facts and attached exhibits are                  
          incorporated herein by this reference.  At the time he filed his            
          petition, petitioner resided in Beverly Hills, California.                  
               Beginning in November 1950, petitioner worked for Temple               
          Adath Israel (the temple) in Marion, Pennsylvania.  He stayed               
          with the temple for about 30 years until he retired in 1980.                
          Petitioner graduated from La Salle College with a degree in                 
          social studies.  Petitioner, however, never attended a religious            
          seminary4, and he neither is nor was an ordained rabbi or a                 


          2  Petitioner concedes a $1,270 interest income adjustment                  
          and a $226 Social Security income adjustment for the 1992 tax               
          year.                                                                       
          3  Petitioner also contests the constitutionality of sec.                   
          107, claiming it is in violation of the Establishment Clause of             
          the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  This contention is           
          unavailing, in that if we decide the constitutional argument in             
          petitioner's favor, the result would lead to the disallowance of            
          the parsonage exclusion that he seeks.  We refuse to consider               
          this issue, as the outcome could not affect petitioner's tax                
          liability in this case.  See Kirk v. Commissioner, 51 T.C. 66, 72           
          (1968), affd. 425 F.2d 492 (D.C. Cir. 1970).                                
          4  Petitioner testified that he intended to join the Jewish                 
          Theological Seminary of America in New York sometime around the             
          year 1950, but was unable to find housing in the New York area.             
          Unable to join the seminary, he began working for the temple.               




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