Skip to main content

When a Church Incorrectly Withholds FICA from a Minister

Question:

Our church withheld FICA from our pastor's prior paychecks. Is the church required to correct prior payroll reports?

Answer:

Yes, if the church incorrectly withheld FICA from its pastor's paychecks, the church is required to file corrected federal payroll forms, including Forms 941 or 944, and Forms W-2 and W-3. If the employee is to be treated as a minister, the church must follow IRS requirements for ministers, which are different than general employee requirements.

Churches are fully subject to the provisions of Internal Revenue Code sections 1402(c) and 3121(b)(8) and Treasury Regulations under section 1402(c). The Internal Revenue Service's Minister's Audit Techniques Guide explains to IRS auditors, in brief, key ministerial tax matters that they must understand before conducting an audit on a minister's tax return. A quote from the Guide follows:
Although  a minister is considered an employee under the common law rules,  payments for services as a minister are considered income from self-employment pursuant to IRC §§ 1402(c) and 3121(b)(8). A minister, unless exempt, pays social security and Medicare taxes under the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) and is not subject to Federal Insurance Compensation Act (FICA) taxes or income tax withholding.
It is important to note that this treatment is non-elective; the church must correct the federal payroll forms.

For a review on FICA taxes, read the following blog posts:

Refund of Incorrectly Withheld FICA Taxes from a Minister

Church Withholding of FICA Taxes

Review of Form W-2 Reporting for Ministers

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rental of a Church Parsonage to a Non-Minister

Question: A church owns a parsonage, but the pastor does not use it as he owns his own home. The church rents the parsonage to a tenant other than a minister or employee of the church. Will the church be responsible for paying income tax on these monies as Unrelated Business Income (filing a Form 990-T) even if the money is used to carry on the business of the church? Answer: Whether the money is used for church purposes is irrelevant.  IRS Publication 598  states: "If an exempt organization regularly carries on a trade or business not substantially related to its exempt purpose, except that it provides funds to carry out that purpose, the organization is subject to tax on its income from that unrelated trade or business." Fortunately, in the case of rental income from real property, such income is "excluded in computing unrelated business taxable income" (Publication 598). Caution: see content below regarding debt-financed property.  However, a second concern not a...

How can my ministry expenses be covered by the church?

     How can my ministry expenses be covered?                            Many ministers use their personal autos for ministry purposes. Their employers can reimburse these costs using a standard mileage rate published by the IRS. The per mile rate represents employees’ entire reimbursable cost other than highway tolls and parking tabs. If not covered by use of the ministries’ credit card, other costs can be reimbursed as well—business and travel meals, lodging, office supplies, and professional library purchases among them. Some ministries reimburse travel costs using per-diems published by the IRS. If employee business expenses are not reimbursed, the personal tax deduction benefit to the individual minister is severely limited. Non-taxable reimbursements after documentation is provided to the employer follows IRS rules for accountable plans. Non-taxable cash advances before expenses are in...

What is the best retirement account for a Minister?

       What are my options for retirement savings?                  Regardless of options, start now! You probably have learned about traditional and Roth IRAs. We have often found them well short of the benefits we will share here regarding Internal Revenue Code section 403(b) plans. These plans must be established by your employer (although you might need to be the initiator). They are funded in two ways—withholding from your paycheck at your option (called “elective deferrals”) and as initiated by the employer (matching or non-elective contributions). These contributions not only save income tax, but they also reduce the income you must report as subject to the 15.3% SECA tax. Further, at retirement with the cooperation of your church or Christian ministry the distributions to you can be tax-free to the extent of your qualified housing expenses. Many ministries also adopt what are often called “FICA alternative” be...