Question:   Are all ministers treated as self-employed for social security purposes?

• Services that a duly ordained, commissioned or licensed minister performs in the exercise of his or her ministry are generally covered under the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA). That means the minister is exempt from Social Security and Medicare withholding, but the minister is responsible for paying self-employment tax on his or her net earnings from self-employment.
• There are, however, some members of religious orders, ministers, and Christian Science practitioners who have requested and been granted exemption from self-employment tax.
• There are also members of religious orders who have taken a vow of poverty that are exempt and ministers who are exempt because they are covered solely by the social security laws of another country under a social security agreement between the United States and that other country.