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Authors

Sandra Machan

Abstract

Church of Scientology members discovered their "inner selves" through "auditing" I and studied Church doctrines and tenets during "training" sessions. To participate in the auditing and training sessions, members paid mandatory or fixed fees to the Church.

In a recent United States Supreme Court Case, the Court considered whether the mandatory donations made to the Church of Scientology constituted a charitable deduction. The Court determined that the members made the mandatory donations with the expectation of a commensurate return benefit (i.e., a quid pro quo). and disallowed the charitable contribution deductions.

Although the Court's decision to disallow the deductions affected thousands of Church members, the Court's decision reaffirmed longstanding precedent in the charitable contribution deduction area.

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