Publication 517
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033601Some income and expense items are treated the same for both income tax and SE tax purposes and some are treated
differently.
Note.For purposes of this section, references to members of the clergy are only to ministers or members of a religious
order.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033602The tax treatment of offerings and fees, outside earnings, rental allowances, rental value of parsonage, earnings of members of religious orders, and foreign earned income is discussed
here.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033603If you are a member of the clergy, you must include in your income offerings and fees you receive for marriages, baptisms, funerals, masses, etc., in addition to your salary. If the offering is made to the religious institution, it is not taxable to you.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033604If you are a member of a religious organization and you give your outside earnings to the organization, you still must include the earnings in your income. However, you may be entitled to a charitable contribution deduction for the amount paid to the organization. For more information, see Publication
526.
Ordained, commissioned, or licensed ministers of the gospel may be able to exclude from income tax the rental allowance or fair rental value of a parsonage that is provided to them as pay for their services. Services include:
- Ministerial services, discussed earlier,
- Administrative duties and teaching at theological seminaries,
and
- The ordinary duties of a minister performed as an employee of the United States (other than as a chaplain in the Armed Forces), a state, possession, political subdivision, or the District of Columbia.
This exclusion applies only for income tax purposes. It does not apply for SE tax purposes, as discussed earlier under
Amounts included in gross income under
Self-Employment Tax: Figuring Net Earnings.
The church or organization that employs you must officially designate the payment as a housing allowance before the payment is made. A definite amount must be designated. The amount of the housing allowance cannot be determined at a later
date.
If you are employed and paid by a local congregation, a resolution by a national church agency of your denomination does not effectively designate a housing allowance for you. The local congregation must officially designate the part of your salary that is to be a housing allowance. However, a resolution of a national church agency can designate your housing allowance if you are directly employed by the national agency. If no part has been officially designated, you must include your total salary in your
income.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033607If you receive in your salary an amount officially designated as a rental allowance (including an amount to pay utility costs), you can exclude the allowance from your gross income if:
- The amount is used to provide or rent a home, and
- The amount is not more than reasonable pay for your services.
The amount you exclude cannot be more than the fair rental value of the home, including furnishings, plus the cost of
utilities.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033608You can exclude from gross income the fair rental value of a house or parsonage, including utilities, furnished to you as part of your earnings. However, the exclusion cannot be more than the reasonable pay for your services. If you pay for the utilities, you can exclude any allowance designated for utility costs, up to your actual cost.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033609Rev. Joanna Baker is a full-time minister. The church allows her to use a parsonage that has an annual fair rental value of $24,000. The church pays her an annual salary of $67,000, of which $7,500 is designated for utility costs. Her actual utility costs during the year were
$7,000.
For income tax purposes, Rev. Baker excludes $31,000 from gross income ($24,000 fair rental value of the parsonage plus $7,000 from the allowance for utility costs). She will report $60,000 ($59,500 salary plus $500 of unused utility allowance). Her income for SE tax purposes, however, is $91,000 ($67,000 salary + $24,000 fair rental value of the parsonage).
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033610If you own your home and you receive as part of your salary a housing or rental allowance, you may exclude from gross income the smallest of:
- The amount actually used to provide a home,
- The amount officially designated as a rental allowance, or
- The fair rental value of the home, including furnishings, utilities, garage, etc.
You must include in gross income the amount of any rental allowance that is more than the smallest
of:
- Your reasonable salary,
- The fair rental value of the home plus utilities, or
- The amount actually used to provide a home.
Include in the total on Form 1040, line 7. On the dotted line next to line 7, enter "Excess allowance" and the
amount.
 | You may deduct the home mortgage interest and real estate taxes you pay on your home even though all or part of the mortgage is paid with funds you get through a tax-free rental or parsonage allowance. However, these expenses can be deducted only as itemized deductions on Schedule A (Form
1040). |
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033613If you are a retired minister, you can exclude from your gross income the rental value of a home (plus utilities) furnished to you by your church as a part of your pay for past services, or the part of your pension that was designated as a rental allowance. However, a minister's surviving spouse cannot exclude the rental value unless the rental value is for ministerial services he or she performs or performed.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033614If you are a minister employed as a teacher or administrator by a church school, college, or university, you are performing ministerial services for purposes of the housing exclusion. However, if you perform services as a teacher or administrator on the faculty of a nonchurch college, you cannot exclude from your income a housing allowance or the value of a home that is provided to
you.
| If you live in faculty lodging as an employee of an educational institution or academic health center, all or part of the value of that lodging may be nontaxable under a different rule. In Publication 525, see Faculty lodging in the discussion on meals and lodging under Fringe
Benefits. |
If you serve as a minister of music or minister of education, or serve in an administrative or other function of your religious organization, but are not authorized to perform substantially all of the religious duties of an ordained minister in your church (even if you are commissioned as a minister of the gospel), the housing exclusion does not apply to you.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033616If you are a theological student serving a required internship as a part-time or assistant pastor, you cannot exclude a parsonage or rental allowance from your income unless you are ordained, commissioned, or licensed as a minister.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033617You can exclude a designated rental allowance from out-of-town churches if you meet all of the following requirements.
- You are an ordained minister.
- You perform ministerial services at churches located away from your
community.
- You actually use the rental allowance to maintain your permanent
home.
If you have a bona fide commission and your congregation employs you on a full-time basis to perform substantially all the religious functions of the Jewish faith, you can exclude a rental allowance from your gross income.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033619Your earnings may be exempt from both income tax and SE tax if you are a member of a religious order who:
- Has taken a vow of poverty,
- Receives earnings for services performed as an agent of the order and in the exercise of duties required by the order,
and
- Renounces the earnings and gives them to the order.
Certain income may be exempt from income tax if you work in a foreign country or in a specified U.S. possession. Publication 54 discusses the foreign earned income exclusion. Publication 570, Tax Guide for Individuals With Income From U.S. Possessions, covers the rules for taxpayers with income from U.S. possessions. You can get these free publications from the Internal Revenue Service at IRS.gov or from most U.S. Embassies or consulates.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033621The tax treatment of ministerial trade or business expenses, expenses allocable to tax-free income, and health insurance costs is discussed
here.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033622When you figure your income tax, you must itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040) to claim allowable deductions for ministerial trade or business expenses incurred while working as an employee. You also may have to file Form 2106, Employee Business Expenses (or Form 2106-EZ, Unreimbursed Employee Business
Expenses).
These expenses are claimed as miscellaneous itemized deductions and are subject to the 2%-of-adjusted-gross-income (AGI) limit. See Publication
529 for more information on this limit.
However, any of your employee business expenses that are allocable to tax-free income will not be deductible (discussed
next).
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033623If you receive a rental or parsonage allowance that is exempt from income tax (tax free), you must allocate a portion of the expenses of operating your ministry to that tax-free income. You cannot deduct the portion of your expenses that is allocated to your tax-free rental or parsonage allowance.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033624This rule does not apply to your deductions for home mortgage interest or real estate taxes on your home.
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033625Figure the portion of your otherwise deductible expenses that you cannot deduct (because that portion must be allocated to tax-free income) by multiplying the expenses by the following
fraction:
| | Tax-free rental or parsonage allowance | |
| | All income (taxable and tax free) earned from your ministry | |
| | | |
When figuring the allocation, include the income and expenses related to the ministerial duties you perform both as an employee and as a self-employed
person.
| Reduce your otherwise deductible expenses only in figuring your income tax, not your SE
tax. |
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033627Rev. Charles Ashford received $40,000 in earnings for ministerial services consisting of a $28,000 salary for ministerial services performed as an employee, $2,000 for weddings and baptisms performed as a self-employed person, and a $10,000 tax-free parsonage allowance. He incurred $4,000 of unreimbursed expenses connected with his earnings for ministerial services. $3,500 of the $4,000 is for employee expenses related to his ministerial salary, and $500 is related to the weddings and baptisms he performed as a self-employed
person.
The nondeductible (tax-free) portion of expenses related to Rev. Ashford's ministerial salary is figured as follows:
| ($10,000 ÷ $40,000) x $3,500 = $875 |
| |
The nondeductible (tax-free) portion of expenses related to Rev. Ashford's wedding and baptism income is figured as follows:
| ($10,000 ÷ $40,000) x $500 = $125 |
If you receive a tax-free rental or parsonage allowance and have ministerial expenses, attach a statement to your tax return. The statement must contain all of the following information.
- A list of each item of taxable ministerial income by source (such as wages, salary, weddings, baptisms, etc.) plus the
amount.
- A list of each item of tax-free ministerial income by source (parsonage allowance) plus the
amount.
- A list of each item of otherwise deductible ministerial expenses plus the
amount.
- How you figured the nondeductible part of your otherwise deductible
expenses.
- A statement that the other deductions claimed on your tax return are not allocable to your tax-free
income.
If you are self-employed, you may be able to deduct the amount you paid in 2012 for medical and dental insurance and qualified long-term care insurance for you, your spouse, and your dependents.
If you qualify, you can take this deduction as an adjustment to income on Form 1040, line 29. See the Instructions for Form 1040 to figure your
deduction.
The following special rules apply to the self-employed health insurance deduction.
- The expenses taken into account for purposes of this deduction are not allowed
as a medical expense deduction on
Schedule A (Form 1040). - The deduction is not allowed for any month you are eligible to participate in a subsidized plan of your (or your spouse's)
employer.
- The deduction cannot exceed your net earnings from the business under which the insurance plan is established. Your net earnings under this rule do not include the income you earned as a
common-law employee (discussed earlier) of a church.
For more information about the self-employed health insurance deduction, see chapter 6 in Publication
535.
For 2012, you can deduct 57.
51% of your SE tax in figuring adjusted gross income if your SE tax is $14,643.30 or less. If your SE tax for 2012 is more than $14,643.30, you can deduct the sum of $1,100 plus 50% of your SE tax. This is an income tax deduction only, on Form 1040, line 27.
 | This is not a deduction in figuring net earnings from self-employment subject to SE tax.
|
taxmap/pubs/p517-004.htm#en_us_publink100033633The federal income tax is a pay-as-you-go tax. You must pay the tax as you earn or receive income during the year. An employee usually has income tax withheld from his or her wages or salary. However, your salary is not subject to federal income tax withholding if both of the following conditions apply.
- You are a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister, a member of a religious order (who has not taken a vow of poverty), or a Christian Science practitioner or
reader.
- Your salary is for ministerial services (see
Ministerial Services, earlier).
If your salary is not subject to withholding, or if you do not pay enough tax through withholding, you may need to make estimated tax payments to avoid penalties for not paying enough tax as you earn your
income.
You generally must make estimated tax payments if you expect to owe taxes, including SE tax, of $1,000 or more, when you file your return.
Determine your estimated tax by using the worksheets in Publication 505. Pay the entire estimated tax for 2013 or the first installment by April 15, 2013. See Form 1040-ES for the different payment methods. The April 15 date applies whether or not your tax home and your abode are outside the United States and Puerto Rico. For more information, see chapter 2 of Publication
505, Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax.
If you perform your services as a common-law employee of the church and your salary is not subject to income tax withholding, you can enter into a voluntary withholding agreement with the church to cover any income and SE tax that may be due.
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