Hernandez v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue

Decided June 5, 1989. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 87-963 · 490 U.S. 680 (1989) · Cited 946 times

Holding

Payments made to the Church's branch churches for auditing and training services are not deductible charitable contributions under 170.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• United States v. Lee · 455 U.S. 252 (1982)
• United States v. American Bar Endowment · 477 U.S. 105 (1986)
• Larson v. Valente · 456 U.S. 228 (1982)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Bob Jones University v. United States · 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
• Tony and Susan Alamo Foundation v. Secretary of Labor · 471 U.S. 290 (1985)
• Aguilar v. Felton · 473 U.S. 402 (1985)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Presbyterian Church in US v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church · 393 U.S. 440 (1969)
• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
• Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos · 483 U.S. 327 (1987)
• United States v. Ballard · 322 U.S. 78 (1944)
• United States v. County of Allegheny · 322 U.S. 174 (1944)
• Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n of Fla. · 480 U.S. 136 (1987)
• Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc. · 459 U.S. 116 (1982)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Jimmy Swaggart Ministries v. Board of Equalization of California · 493 U.S. 378 (1990)
• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• City of Boerne v. Flores · 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
• Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União Do Vegetal · 546 U.S. 418 (2006)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).