Both spouses employed by church

My husband is the senior pastor and I just came on staff as the ministey pastor. He already gets full housing beneft and pays his own FICA. Is there any benefit to me being classified as a pastor or would it be better to be a regular church employee and have the church pay half of my FICA?

Comments for Both spouses employed by church

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Aug 14, 2014

Church Cannot Withold and Match FICA on a Minister
by: Vickey

A church CANNOT withhold and match Social Security and Medicare taxes (FICA) from a minister's wages. A minister pays his Social Security and Medicare taxes under the SECA system.

Note: Social security and Medicare taxes are collected under two systems. Under the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA), the self-employed person pays all the taxes. Under the Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), the employee and the employer each pay half of the taxes. No earnings are subject to both systems.

Sounds like your husband pays his taxes correctly through the SECA system. You will need to do the same:)

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

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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