Parsonage: Are Clerics Employees Or Self-Employed?

Parsonage is a seemingly innocuous five line tax benefit in the Code. This "innocent" provision of the Code, Section 107, appears to have befuddled many ministers and their professional advisors, however.

About 90 years ago, Congress promulgated an exclusion from income for the rental value of the housing provided to a "minister of the gospel," which includes priests, rabbis, imams and any other duly ordained, commissioned or licensed member of the clergy. Alternatively, the minister can exclude the rental allowance paid as part of compensation, to the extent actually used as rent or other costs of home ownership. Since 2002, the allowance is capped at fair rental value, including furnishings and appurtenances (such as a garage), plus the cost of utilities.

While there are IRS publications that explain the tax nuances of parsonage (e.g., Publication 517 and The Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations), the unusual tax treatment of ministers can still be very confusing.

Ministers are effectively dual status employees. Simply put, a minister is an employee for all tax purposes except for withholding and social security tax purposes, where he or she is treated like a self-employed person.

The following are some of the highlights of this unique status for the employer and the minister:

An employer need not withhold any taxes from a minister's compensation. There is no withholding of FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes from a minister's compensation. This includes the parsonage portionand the non-parsonage portion. A minister must pay SECA (Self-Employment Contributions Act) taxes on the entire compensation, including the parsonage payment. For example, if the minister receives $50,000 of compensation...