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STATE : Scientology Training Fees Not Tax-Deductible, High Court Rules

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<i> From Times wire services </i>

The Supreme Court ruled today that money spent on training courses from the Church of Scientology, which has an extensive following in California, is not tax-deductible.

The 5-2 ruling written by Justice Thurgood Marshall came in a case concerning government efforts to tax money paid the church for “auditing” and “training” services.

Church members have paid thousands of dollars for the sessions and have tried to deduct the amounts from their taxes as charitable donations. The Internal Revenue Service disallowed the deductions.

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Marshall wrote that the payments indeed are not contributions or gifts within the meaning of IRS rules and therefore are not tax-deductible. His opinion also held that the rule does not infringe on the First Amendment rights of Scientologists to freedom of religion.

In dissent, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, said the court “acquiesces in the decision of the Internal Revenue Service to manufacture a singular exception to its 70-year practice of allowing fixed payments indistinguishable from those made by petitioners to be deducted as charitable contributions.”

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