Archive for Clergy Tax Q&A

Is a Minister legally allowed to place all of his income in housing allowance? 
Is there a limit to the percentage of income you place in housing allowance? If your housing expenses are equal are greater than your income, are you ...

Commuter Mileage 
I think Bible Study (taught by the pastor) each Monday night would be considered commuter mileage? How about the other things listed below?

Our pastor ...

Volunteer Pastor  
As a non paid volunteer pastor of our church can I claim any deductions for our home office which is located 30 miles from the church.

Can I claim ...

Pastor non church related Travel 
If a Pastor is traveling because he was invited to be a speaker at another church which is covering airflight and acomidations. Does the local church ...

Pastor Vacation Gift 
Is a vacation gift given to a pastor taxable?

Non Paid Clergy 
What tax deductions can a Youth Pastor that is licensed to marry, etc. but is bi-vocational at this time. He does use his home, car, computer and office ...

Traveling Ministry Expenses 
We have a traveling ministry. We hold meetings in four different communities, and have rented a house in one of the centrally located communities for ministry ...

Estimated taxes reported on 1040 
Our pastor is only receiving a housing allowance, with no other wages from the church. He is making estimated tax payments for the housing allowance.

At ...

Is the Pastors housing allowance in addition to his salary 
Is the Pastors housing allowance an amount in addition to his salary or am I reducing his salary to the amount to be used as housing.

[Know the answer?...

Pay for a custodian on disability 
We have recently done a financial overall in our church. I have been appointed to our financial committee and we have run into a difficult situation.

Our ...

Non- paid minister 
Our minister receives an expense check only for an agreed upon amount by our church. Also he lives in the church's parsonage. How and what should he be ...

Do you have to include taxes paid by the church as income for the Pastor? 
Our Church agreed to pay the Pastor's taxes for him. We do not take anything tax wise out of his paycheck.

We do file a 941 though.

Should we ...

salary or housing expenses 
Our minister is paid a very small salary. He wants to claim it all as housing expenses and nothing as salary. Is this allowed? How would it be reported ...

Report Income in the 1040 form or Schedule C? 
I am an ordain clery My wages are in a w-2 form can i use it on schedule C?

In form 1040 I report my forms w-2 wages my personal income of 79.00 my ...

Voluntary Withholding Agreement 
If our minister would like to set up a voluntary withholding agreement to have us take out Federal withholding, when they fill out the W-4, do they still ...

If a church pays a pastors surgery expense, how can it be reported to minimize taxes.  
I am a pastor and my church wants to pay $2000 to cover insurance deductable. Can they do this without me having to pay taxes on the $2000?

[Know ...

Salary & travel expense broken down 
Can a pastor receive his salary in two parts? 60% for salary and 40% for travel expense.
He is also given a parsonage. How should this be
reported ...

How do we set up Religous Order employees? 
Our Seminary has three different types of employees. Priests, religious order workers, and lay people. I know priests are exempt from Social Security and ...

Ordained minister working as teacher of school under church 
If there is an ordained minister that is working as a teacher under the umbrella of a church, should his wages not have withholding, or if they state to ...

frivilous return?  
I am a minster and have not yet received my tax refund for my 2009 return.

The IRS requested to see my W-2 because my withholdings were very high compared ...

Non Profit Pays Children's Tuition...is it taxable? 
I am a traveling music evangelist (ordained)...

Our ministry is non-profit 501C. As my children are a part of the ministry, they must be homeschooled ...

Severance Package 
When we parted ways with our minister he was given a 3 month severance. When he received his regular paycheck $2000.00 each check was classified as housing....

Pastors with secular jobs. 
I am a fulltime pastor as well as a fulltime employee for a non-religious company.
My income is taxed and withheld in the non-religious company, is it ...

How does a Non-salaried, Non-employee Ordained Minister Figure His Estimated Tax Liability 
I understand that it is the responsibility of the pastor to figure his own estimated tax liability so that he can send in quarterly payments.

How does ...

Clergy E-file and "Clergy Income Statement" attached 
We have used tax cut to do our taxes for several years this year it states that a "Clergy Income Statement" explaining housing allowance must be attached....

Tithe Withholding from Paycheck 
Can clergy and non-clergy members make pre-tax payroll deductions to be used for tithing?

[Know the answer? Face the same situation? Please post your ...

How Does a Person Become Licensed? 
Our "pastor" is not ordained. He is just a member of the church that has taken the responsibility of preaching each week since we have no pastor. The church ...

Where can I find a list? 
I am looking for a list of what I can deduct from my income taxes. I am a bi vocational pastor. I do not have any taxes deducted from the salary the church ...

Income Tax for a Minister not Receiving a Salary 
Minister not receiving a salary, but does receive pastoral support how would you file this on your income taxes?

Pastor started a church the church ...

Clergy and EIC taxes 
Most tax software companies do not know how to handle minister’s taxes. When you click on the minister's SE exemption due to filing form 4361, the Earned ...

Taxable Income 
My minister receives about $4,000 for the automobile maintenance for his private car and about $4,500 for continuing education from the church. Both of ...

Clergy Tax Questions 
Question regarding clergy tax:

My best friend is a priest at a catholic church. He was a pastor at the church till 2007 and had to leave the country....

Deductions for associate pastors 
Can an associate pastor who meets all of the 5 requirements to be considered as clergy, but who does not receive a salary be considered as eligible to ...

PAYROLL SALARY FOR MINISTER 
IF THE CHURCH REQUESTED A GRANT SUBSIDY AND RECIEVED A PORTION OF IT FOR THE MINISTERS GAS, EDUCATION, BOOKS AND STIPEND CAN THE MINISTERS SALARY BE DEDUCTED ...

How should I be taxed  Not rated yet
I am the owner of an LLC taxed as an "s" corp. I am also an employee of the company as an ordained minister providing spiritual counseling. The company ...

Are Clergy exempt from Clergy retirement income  Not rated yet
Are Clergy exempt from Clergy retirement income

Can I claim travel expenses to the US?  Not rated yet
I am a Canadian Ordained Minister who has received no salary this year, but have traveled to the US to volunteer, can I claim my travel expenses and housing ...

Have approved 4361 but there are social securiy and medicare tax withheld on w2  Not rated yet
I have approved 4361, which I obtained in the middle of 2011. I have been ordained since 2010 but I filed and got approved 4361 during 2011. I see that ...

Can housing expenses offset other retirement benefits?  Not rated yet
My father is a retired minister, but is working for a small church that gave him $6,000 for the year toward health insurance. He wants to know if he can ...

pastor is serving without salary.   Not rated yet
Pastor worked at a secular job until retirement. He receives social security and a check for retiring from secular job. What is his status for filing ...

Does our pastor need a w2 or 1099 form ?  Not rated yet
We belong to a small community church. We do not have any other employees. Our pastor has been with our church for 17 years and receives a regular salary....

I received no W2 from the church, how do I report my income?  Not rated yet
In 2010 I pastored a church for 7 months. I received a salary, of which about 1/2 of it was designated as a housing allowance.

I am no longer the ...

Housing Allowance and Wages / SE Tax  Not rated yet
On Turbo Tax there is an option to pay SE Tax on Wages alone, housing allowance alone or BOTH wages and housing allowance. Can you just pay SE Tax on wages ...

Below Poverty Pastors  Not rated yet
My husband and I are young, 22yrs old. Our church is very small and his salary is too. He makes $325 wk.

Since we make so little, our church doesn’...

Pastor's salary  Not rated yet
We are a small church and I have been treasurer for about one year. We recently got a new pastor. Are we responsible to take out taxes on him or is he ...

clergy working in another capacity, do they need to pay taxes?  Not rated yet
A clergy working in pharmacy, are their wages tax exempt?

Vickey's Reply

None of the wages would be tax exempt; however, the clergy wages would ...

Questions on Minister's Taxes  Not rated yet
My husband is a new pastor and we are very confused. He has just been ordained and has had his housing allowance confirmed by the board. We just received ...

Can someone pastor a church on social security disability  Not rated yet
Can someone pastor a church on social security disability without losing benefits? If so how much can that pastor make without effecting SSA Benefits
...

Pastor already on disability ssi-does he have to pay taxes?  Not rated yet
The minister of my church was injured and lost his leg 7 years ago and is on social security disability.

Two years ago, the Lord called him to start ...

Pastor attire  Not rated yet
An offering is being taking for the pastor’s bishop attire. Do the pastor have to pay taxes on this offering if the check is make out to the church?

Answer...

State and local income tax withholding for ministers  Not rated yet
You've stated that a church cannot withhold income taxes for a minister. It's clear from the IRS documents that this applies to federal income tax, but ...

Bi-vocational ministers  Not rated yet
My husband is an ordained minister but is not employed by a church. He is bi-vocational. Does he have to be set up as a minister and pay his own social ...

Other Income?  Not rated yet
Do I have to report my continuing education, auto allowance, and social security offset as income when paying my taxes?

Answer

Yes. However, if ...

church with a pastor that does NOT receive any salary, how should he file?  Not rated yet
Our pastor has elected NOT to receive any type of payroll salary. The church has a rent house he lives in. The church pays the rent and all the utilities....

Self employment tax and health insurance deduction  Not rated yet
Question regarding Self employment tax and health insurance deduction:
My husband is a pastor and receives a housing allowance and a salary. We pay for ...

Money Given to the Minister from the Service Collection Plate   Not rated yet
If we give the pastor 500.00 a Sunday from the collection plate and he pays taxes from another income, will it cost him more taxes this way rather than ...

Tax Breaks?  Not rated yet
I am a church organist. They pay my social security but no federal or state tax is withheld. What are the chances of requesting state and federal withholdings....

How Much can a Minister Make?  Not rated yet
How much money does a minister have to make in order for money to be reported?

I started my church back up after 12 years vacancy. I do not have very ...

Severance Pay  Not rated yet
I recently resigned from a church as the Pastor. The church gave me 2 months severance pay. They recently sent a 1099-misc form for the severance. I ...

W2 AND HOUSING ALLOWANCE  Not rated yet
DO I PUT HOUSING ALLOWANCE ON THE W2?

Answer

Your church is not required to report the minister's housing allowance to the IRS. However some churches ...

social security tax after full retiment age  Not rated yet
If a pastor is still working after he reached full retirement age and has already apply for social security benefit, is it optional to pay social security ...

Ministers Contributions To His Local Church Deducted Before He's Paid - Taxable?  Not rated yet
My husband is the pastor and our church does not deduct his income taxes & they do not assist with his social security. We file quarterly.

We had ...

Minister's Compensation   Not rated yet
What is the percentage of the total church income supposed to go to ministers' or pastors' compensation/salaries?

vickey's reply

There is no set ...

Is it legal for ministers to work a part time....   Not rated yet
Some told me there are tax laws that would prevent me from working part time on top of me receiving money from people who partner with me monthly in order ...

Gifts from the Church Taxable?  Not rated yet
Is money given by the church to the pastor for Christmas and for pastor appreciation included in W-2 Earnings?


Answer

That would depend on how ...

Guest Speaker Income  Not rated yet
If a pastor speaks regularly as a guest speaker at a second church, and receives a check each time, where does he report this income? No W-2 will be given ...

Fund for Robes and Training.  Not rated yet
Question regarding clothing and training allowance:

My church has a special Pastor's Trust (or fund) for his robes and training. Is this taxable? Can ...

Clergy Stipend  Not rated yet
Question regarding clergy stipend:

I am the pastor of a small mission church and currently do not take compensation for my ministerial services (I also ...

Claiming Mileage  Not rated yet
Question regarding claiming mileage as a professional expense:

Can a pastor who has a residence in his church town, plus an office and a one year contract ...

Unused Vacation Hours  Not rated yet
When a minister retires or resigns and is paid for their unused vacation time, are these hours considered regular salary only or should the hours be based ...