Internal Department of Hmmm...

I was trying to figure out if I can claim a housing allowance as a clergyperson in my new position at Confirm not Conform, and so I consulted (as one does) an article from the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Here's the thing that got me.

The definition of clergy is a “minister of the Gospel” and, according to the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) definition, three tests must be satisfied in order for an individual to be considered as such. Thus a rabbi, priest, pastor, imam, cantor, etc., can be defined as a “minister of the Gospel” providing he or she meets the...three requirements

Minister of the Gospel? Applied to Rabbis and Imams? Perhaps we should come up with slightly better terminology here. How difficult can that be? Don't answer that.

Incidentally, no, I can't take a housing allowance because I don't meet criterion 3: "service performed by this individual must constitute conduct of religious worship or ministration of sacerdotal functions." I don't think my current work applies.