We have an interim pastor should we issue a W2 or 1099 for his services?

We have an interim pastor should he receive a W2 or 1099 for his services?

Comments for We have an interim pastor should we issue a W2 or 1099 for his services?

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Jan 19, 2020

Pastors are Usually Considered Employees
by: Vickey

You will find aurugments on both sides of the question on how to classify an interim pastor.

I lean more toward the "all pastors should be classified as employees" side =)

However, I know there are several factors to consider such as length of service, control and supervision, and whether they are preaching and several churches at the same time, come into play in the decision on how to report their salary.

In this day and time, I recommend my payroll clients play it safe and classify a minister (especially a Pastor) as an employee when in doubt and use a W-2 to report salaries.

But if you think that in your particular situation, you may be able to classify your interim Pastor as an independent contractor ...please seek tax and legal counsel before you pay them to avoid any future IRS issues.

Note: if you live in CA, classify them as an employee! Their new 2020 new independent contractor law will make it difficult to classify any interim Pastor as an IC.

Jan 25, 2023

Intermin Pastor
by: Anonymous

We have had an interim pastor for a year He says that he is under contract and not an employee Please give your opinion on this

Thank You

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Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Clergy Tax Q&A.

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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