Approved 4361, Does the church have to pay the Social Security

If a pastor has an approved 4361 does the church have to pay the Social Security Match?

Vickey's Reply:
With or without an approved 4361, a church does NOT withhold or match FICA from a minister's compensation.

If an individual is classified as a minister for tax purposes, they have a special tax status with the IRS. Ministers are considered an employee for federal income tax purposes and self-employed for Social Security and Medicare purposes.

So they pay SS and Medicare (unless they have IRS approval to opt out)) like a self employee individual.

Let me emphasis again....a church does NOT withhold or MATCH Social Security and Medicare.

See more on this page:
https://www.freechurchaccounting.com/clergytax.html

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Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to IRS Form 4361.

If you want to DIY your payroll, I highly recommend you look at using Gusto! It is very user friendly and their support is awesome! Plus they know how to set up and maintain payrolls for churches and nonprofit organizations.

Note: I am a "partner" of Gusto, but as I have told you before ... I never recommend anything that we or our clients have not tried and love =)

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