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observes that the self-employment tax was imposed on petitioners’
income derived from Mr. Gage’s Schedule C business.
We agree with respondent that petitioners are liable for
self-employment tax on their self-employment income.
Respondent’s denial of a self-employment tax exemption to
petitioners, assuming their claimed religious objections to the
Social Security system are sincere, was not in violation of their
free exercise rights. In Droz v. Commissioner, 48 F.3d 1120 (9th
Cir. 1995), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the court
to which this case is appealable, held that the denial of
exemption from self-employment tax to a taxpayer who had
religious objections to the Social Security system did not
violate the taxpayer’s free exercise rights. Our jurisprudence
contains a line of cases which hold similarly. Randolph v.
Commissioner, 74 T.C. 284 (1980); Henson v. Commissioner, 66 T.C.
835 (1976); Palmer v. Commissioner, 52 T.C. 310 (1969); May v.
Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1996-135; Grieve v. Commissioner, T.C.
Memo. 1986-453. Because we find nothing in the instant case to
distinguish it from Droz and our line of cases, we hold that the
imposition upon petitioners of self-employment tax as determined
by respondent is not in violation of their First Amendment
rights.
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