Knight v. Commissioner

92 T.C. No. 12, 92 T.C. 199, 1989 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 15
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedJanuary 30, 1989
DocketDocket Nos. 45505-86, 27182-87
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 92 T.C. No. 12 (Knight v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Knight v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. No. 12, 92 T.C. 199, 1989 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 15 (tax 1989).

Opinion

Williams, Judge:

In these consolidated cases, the Commissioner determined deficiencies in petitioners’ 1984 and 1985 self-employment tax in the amounts of $798 and $1,112.85, respectively. The issue we must decide is whether petitioner John G. Knight (petitioner) performed services as a “duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister” of a church so as to subject him to self-employment tax pursuant to section 1401.1

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found. Petitioners were husband and wife during the years in issue and resided in Jackson, Tennessee, when their petition was filed.

On May 18, 1980, petitioner was presented as a candidate for ministry in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (CPC).2 The CPC, organized in 1810, is an established religious body in the United States. Petitioner became a “licentiate” of the CPC on May 16, 1981. Becoming a licentiate of the CPC is a solemn occasion and a serious and necessary step toward ordination. Pursuant to the church constitution, when a candidate is licensed, the person presiding over the licensing addresses the candidate as follows:

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great head of the church, and by the authority which he has given to the church for its edification, the presbytery now licenses you to preach the gospel and perform other functions of ministry as set forth in the Constitution. To this end may the blessing of God rest upon you and the Spirit of Christ fill your heart. Amen.

On February 19, 1984, Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Shiloh) contracted for petitioner’s services as a “licentiate minister of the Gospel” in the CPC, in exchange for $15,600 per year, a parsonage, and payment of petitioner’s heat bill. Petitioner served Shiloh during 1984 and 1985. Petitioner briefly served two other small churches in 1984, before being called to Shiloh.

At Shiloh during 1984 and 1985, petitioner preached, conducted the worship service, visited the sick, performed funerals, and ministered to the needy. Under the CPC constitution, because petitioner was not ordained, he could not moderate or vote in the session (the local church’s governing body), administer the sacraments (the Lord’s Supper and baptism), or solemnize marriages. Moreover, petitioner could not be a member of the presbytery or the synod, and could not be a commissioner to the General Assembly.

Petitioner reported his income for the 1984 and 1985 taxable years from Shiloh and the other churches in which he ministered in 1984 on Schedule C, Profit or (Loss) From Business or Profession. Petitioner did not timely file a Form 4361, Application for Exemption from Self-Employment Tax for Use by Ministers, Members of Religious Orders and Christian Science Practitioners, pursuant to section 1402(e). Shiloh did not issue a W-2 Form to petitioner for the taxable years 1984 and 1985 and did not withhold taxes with respect to the services provided by petitioner. Respondent determined that as a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister performing services in the exercise of his ministry, petitioner was liable for self-employment tax for his 1984 and 1985 tax years.

OPINION

Section 1401 imposes a tax on an individual’s self-employment income which is defined as the “net earnings from self-employment” derived by an individual during a taxable year. Sec. 1402(b). Net earnings from self-employment is the gross income derived by an individual from any trade or business carried on by that individual less the deductions attributable to that trade or business. Sec. 1402(a). Pursuant to section 1402(c)(4), a “duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of a church in the exercise of his ministry” is engaged in carrying on a trade or business unless the minister is exempt from self-employment tax pursuant to section 1402(e). Unless an exemption certificate is timely filed, the minister is liable for self-employment tax on income derived from the ministry. Sec. 1402(c)(4). Petitioner has stipulated that he has not filed a timely exemption from self-employment tax. Petitioner will, therefore, be Hable for self-employment tax if he performed services for Shiloh as a “duly ordained, commissioned, or Hcensed minister” of the CPC in the exercise of duties required by the CPC.

Petitioner, relying on the Court-reviewed opinion of Lawrence v. Commissioner, 50 T.C. 494 (1968), argues first that because he has not been formaUy ordained by the CPC, is precluded from administering the CPC’s sacraments, and cannot participate in church government, he is not a minister subject to section 1402(c). Petitioner argues that he was an employee of the CPC, and was not subject to self-employment tax. Sec. 1402(c)(2). The status of Lawrence is muddied, and subsequent cases have largely confined the authority of the case to a statement that the taxpayer failed to carry his burden of proof. Silverman v. Commissioner, 57 T.C. 727, 730 (1972), affd. in an unreported case (8th Cir. 1973, 73-2 USTC par. 9546, 32 AFTR 2d 73-5379); Wingo v. Commissioner, 89 T.C. 922, 933 (1987). We beHeve the principles that have emerged since Lawrence in construing the phrase “duly ordained, commissioned, or Hcensed” compel a decision for respondent in this case.

Congress used the phrase “ordained, commissioned, or Hcensed” perhaps to allow for differences in methods and terminology among various reHgious groups in investing their reHgious leaders with ministerial or priestly authority.3 Some groups describe this investiture as “ordination,” others as “commissioning,” and others as “Hcensing.” Applying the statute narrowly could have had the salutary effect of avoiding an inquiry in every case into the nature of a “minister’s” duties to decide whether reHgious offices were equivalent among differing reHgions. Compare Silverman v. Commissioner, supra, and Wingo v. Commissioner, supra. These later cases have construed the statutory phrase more broadly. Cf. Ballinger v. Commissioner, 728 F.2d 1287 (10th Cir. 1984), affg. 78 T.C. 752 (1982). Under existing principles, we must inquire in each case into not only whether the taxpayer is “ordained, commissioned, or licensed” but also whether the taxpayer’s duties and functions were appropriate for a “duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister.”

In determining whether an individual is a “duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister” for purposes of section 1402, we have applied the principles pertinent to deciding whether an individual is a “minister of the gospel” for purposes of section 107(2). Wingo v. Commissioner, supra at 932. Consequently, case authority construing who is a “minister of the gospel” for purposes of section 107 has equal force in construing who is a “duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed” minister for purposes of section 1402.

In Salkov v. Commissioner, 46 T.C. 190 (1966), we decided that a Jewish cantor was a “minister of the gospel” for purposes of section 107(2) and that he could exclude from gross income the rental allowance used to provide his home. Accord Silverman v. Commissioner, supra (part-time cantor qualified). In Salkov and in Wingo we noted that the words “duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed” were disjunctive.

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Bluebook (online)
92 T.C. No. 12, 92 T.C. 199, 1989 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/knight-v-commissioner-tax-1989.