The Ninth Circuit has decided Sklar v. Commissioner, No. 06-72961 (9th Cir. Dec. 12, 2008), involving the question of whether payments to an Orthodox Jewish day school for Michael and Marla Sklar's children in 1995 could be deducted as a charitable contribution. The answer is no. The court affirmed the Tax Court's decision that this type of payment is for the educational benefit rather than a charitable contribution, as it has traditionally been treated in a long line of cases. The court noted that the arguments made by the Sklar's were "virtually identical" to the arguments made in an earlier case that sought to use the Scientology closing agreement to claim similar rights, and came to the same conclusions it had come to earlier.
For background, see
105 TC No. 14 (2005) (the tax court case affirmed by the December 12 decision)
282 F.3d 610 (9th Cir. 2002) (the Ninth Circuit's earlier decision regarding the Sklar's claim in respect of the 1994 returns and the IRS closing agreement with the Church of Scientology)
Legal archive on Church of Scientology's battle with the IRS.
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