Skip to main content

"Erroneous" Form 1099-MISC Issued to Missionaries

Question:

A missionary receives a Form 1099-MISC from a church for which he provided no direct services during the year. His mission agency issues him a Form W-2 or Form 1099-MISC for his full missions support. Is the Form 1099-MISC income reported by the church also taxable?

Answer: 

It is apparent that the church in the question above distributed money to the missionary, otherwise no Form 1099-MISC would have been issued. There are three likely explanations for a situation of this nature:

The first possibility takes place when the missionary receives income from a supporting church which is remitted directly to his mission agency. The agency will then report the income to the missionary on a Form W-2 or Form 1099-MISC.

The second possibility is similar to the first, except the missionary is the one who receives the money, not the mission agency. However, the missionary does report the income to the agency which will, in turn, report the earnings to him or her on Form W-2 or Form 1099-MISC.

But how does a missionary avoid double taxation if a Form 1099-MISC is issued to him by the church when the mission agency has also reported the income on Form 1099-MISC or Form W-2?

In this case, the missionary should report the Form 1099-MISC income on Schedule C (Part 1, Line 1). He or she should then deduct an identical amount as a ministerial expense, providing name and Employer Identification Number (EIN) of the agency to whom the income was forwarded or reported.

The third possibility occurs when the missionary receives the money directly, but does not report it to the mission agency. Under these circumstances, the missionary is responsible for the income and must record it as taxable.





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 health insurance coverage can I get as a minister?

    What are my options for health coverage as a minister?                       Many churches and Christian organizations have discontinued providing employer-paid group health plans. In lieu of paying out extremely expensive, one-size-fits-all insurance premiums, some have opted to provide taxable stipends and let employees shop for their own coverage. The good news: you can choose your own. The bad news: the stipend may not be enough and securing coverage can be complicated. Health care sharing plan options can be more economical. But they don’t qualify as standard health insurance: health care providers can balk, and the monthly subscriptions are not tax deductible. The Marketplace ( www.healthcare.gov ) offers alternatives, including advance premium tax credits to help with the monthly costs. Watch out for unpleasant surprises, however, since the tax credits must be reassessed when you file your annual Form...