Clergy Housing Calculator: open questions and ambiguities

Read this alongside clergy-housing.yaml (the rule ids below refer to it) and clergy-housing-test-cases.yaml. Updated 2026-09-25 after three adversarial reviews. Each finding's resolution is in ../reviews/clergy-housing-2026-09-25-resolutions.md.

checked: 2026-09-25

Resolved

1. The mixed-year base (CA-06). RESOLVED; the mixed year is now computed.

   • The current form is T1223 E (25), and its text is unambiguous. In Part (B):
     • Line 1 is "Income from qualifying employment". Note 1 equates this with "remuneration for the year".
     • Line 3 is "Number of months in qualifying employment". That means months of clergy status and function, not months living in the rented home.
     • Only line 6 is limited to "the total period in the year that the residence was owned or rented and you were in qualifying employment".
   • Part (C) then adds (A) and (B) and caps the total at line 1.
   • The statute agrees: ITA 8(1)(c)(iv)(A)(I) counts months "during which the taxpayer is a person described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii)".
   • The earlier "period-only" reading was wrong. It under-deducted by $2,833.33 in CA-TC-13.

2. Is a cash housing allowance in line 1 (CA-08)? RESOLVED: yes.

   • The CRA payroll page reports a cash housing allowance in box 14 (employment income).
   • T1223 Part C(A) says to complete (B) "even if you received a housing allowance".

3. Québec: form currency and line number (CA-QC-01, CA-QC-02). RESOLVED.

   • The live Revenu Québec page, fetched 2026-09-25, lists TP-76-V 2016-10 as the current version and the deduction as line 207.
   • The line-11 "greater of the computed amount and the box V allowance" step is current.
   • Québec is now handling: refer. The calculator shows the federal result, flags the Québec differences (required-use test, one form per employer, form enclosed with the return, line 207, line-11 step), and computes no Québec number.

4. CPP/QPP versus EI (CA-11). RESOLVED.

   • The CRA payroll page allows income-tax and CPP withholding to be reduced. It allows no EI reduction.
     • When the employer provides the home, the reduction needs the employee's written notice.
     • When the employee owns or rents, it needs T1213 plus CRA's letter of authority.
   • A cash allowance is EI-insurable. EI applies to a non-cash benefit only if cash was also paid in the same pay period.

5. The Gaylor citation (US-08). RESOLVED.

   • Verified: Gaylor v. Mnuchin, 919 F.3d 420 (7th Cir. 2019), Nos. 18-1277 & 18-1280, decided March 15, 2019. The holding is "We conclude § 107(2) is constitutional. The judgment of the district court is REVERSED." This comes from the Seventh Circuit's own slip opinion, and CourtListener confirms the reporter citation.
   • The unverified claim "cert denied, 140 S. Ct. 56" is deleted. The calculator makes no statement about the Supreme Court.

6. Reasonable-pay ceiling (US-09). RESOLVED as policy. It is handling: refer: every US result carries a warning line, and the calculator never applies a computed cap.

7. "Amount actually used": the cost categories (US-02). RESOLVED.

   • Anchored to two sources:
     • Reg. 1.107-1(c): "rent of a home, purchase of a home, and expenses directly related to providing a home", excluding food, servants, and any farm or business-property portion. Only amounts spent in the same tax year count.
     • Pub 1828: "rent, mortgage payments, utilities, repairs and other expenses directly relating to providing a home".
   • Property tax, insurance and furnishings are shown as "directly related" examples, not as categories the sources list.

8. Dollar thresholds. CONFIRMED in the statute text today:

   • "$1,000 multiplied by the number of months (to a maximum of ten)" and "one-third of the taxpayer's remuneration". Neither is indexed.
   • §107 has no dollar caps.
   • Re-check both before each tax year.

Still open

9. The CRA payroll page still says "line 11 of Form T1223". The (25) form ends at line 10. This is a CRA-side inconsistency. User-facing text says "the final line (line 10) of Part C(B)". Re-check it when CRA next revises the page.

10. IT-141R (Consolidated) is not retrievable. Both known canada.ca URLs return 404. No rule depends on it any more. If the calculator's help text ever wants to quote CRA's gloss on "member of the clergy" or "ministering", a working URL must be found first.

11. Other limits on itemizing mortgage interest and property tax (US-10), such as the SALT cap. These were not verified from a primary source this pass. The calculator currently says "only if you itemize on Schedule A; ask your tax adviser whether itemizing helps you". Verify against the current Schedule A instructions before adding any specific limit.

12. The mixed-year statute wording (CA-06). ITA 8(1)(c) joins (iii) and (iv) with "or". The addition in T1223 Part C(C) is CRA's administrative form instruction, and the calculator follows it as written. No CRA or court source contradicting the form was found. Keep watching for one.

13. Refer cases a Phase 2 might compute. These are deliberately not computed in Phase 1:

    • both spouses are clergy (CA-12);
    • the Québec TP-76-V (CA-QC-01, CA-QC-02);
    • retired ministers (US-11);
    • ministry-expense allocation (US-12);
    • the reasonable-pay ceiling (US-09).