Question: Should a church should withhold taxes from a pastor ?

by Darle
(North East,Md.)

Some sites say a church needs to withhold taxes, except FICA, from a pastor wages. Some sites say not to. Some sites say a pastor has to request taxes withheld. Which is correct? I gave our pastor a W4 to fill out when he first came and he has never returned it, is this something I need to do again to keep it in the church records?
Thank You.
Darle

Comments for Question: Should a church should withhold taxes from a pastor ?

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Apr 06, 2012

taxes
by: Sandra

You need to review IRS Pub's 15 series and pub 517. My understanding is the church does not withhold unless the pastor turns in a w4 requesting it. The w2 has his income in line 1 and his housing in line 14 for their information in filling out their tax forms. Our church does not withhold taxes.

Apr 06, 2012

Withhold Taxes
by: Anonymous

Thank you. This is the way I thought it is done, but wanted to make sure.

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

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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