Clergy and the military both get a double tax break on housing allowances; and I have no problem with either group doing so.
The military are paid poverty wages and are encouraged to be locked into the poverty way of life as one way to get extra cash. The idea behind the clergy, a life of serving others beyond self. I can get behind both of these in the grand plan.
They get to excluded their housing allowance from federal taxable income. If eligible to be itemizers can deduct on Schedule A of their Form 1040 the amount of home mortgage interest and real property taxes that they pay…up to the $10,000 cap for state and local tax deductions. Those who can itemize are seemingly fewer and fewer each year.
The fact that they get housing allowances doesn’t preclude claiming these itemizations.
Note that the housing allowances are subject to self-employment tax or FICA tax, so it is not all good news.