Skip to main content

Threat to Tax-Exempt Status? Renting Out the Church Parsonage

By Anonymous
Question:

A church is looking to rent out its parsonage to a non-staff member. Can the income that is received for the rent be used for church expenses not related to the property without affecting the church's tax-exempt status?

Answer:

The church tax-exempt status will not be affected by the use of the rental income for expenses not related to the property. However, the church may lose its real estate tax exemption for the property because it is not used for an exempt purpose.

There are both potential Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) and local property tax concerns. First, tax-exempt organizations generally do not need to report rental income as unrelated business income (UBI) unless it is financed with tax-exempt debt instruments. According to IRS Publication 598 (Page 10), "Rents from real property, including elevators and escalators, are excluded in computing unrelated business taxable income. Rents from personal property are not excluded." The IRS cites exceptions to this rule. One exception is if the rental is debt-financed, the organization may owe UBIT.

However, depending on a church's local municipality assessor's office, the conversion of church use of a parsonage to rental property to a non-church staff member may cause the property to be placed back on the local real estate tax roll. We recommend the church contact the local assessor's office to determine its risks of being put back on the tax roll.

Additionally, we recommend that churches borrowing to finance properties from which they receive rental income should read the "Income from Debt-Financed Property" section (Publication 598 - linked above).



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rental of a Church Parsonage to a Non-Minister

By
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
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Form 1099 Payments to 501(c)(3) Organizations

By Anonymous
Question: A church rented space from another church last year. Should it request a completed Form W-9 and issue Form 1099-MISC? Answer: Payments from one 501(c)(3) organization to another 501(c)(3) organization are not subject to Form 1099-MISC reporting. The IRS Instructions for Form 1099-MISC state that "payments to a tax-exempt organization" are exempt from reporting a Form 1099-MISC.  The following are typical examples of payments of $600 or more by a church which are subject to reporting a Form 1099-MISC: Rent paid to an individual (non-corporation) Payments for services rendered by individuals who are not employees (e.g. janitorial service, facilities, snow removal, guest speakers) Support sent directly to missionaries
2 comments
Read more

Form 944 or 941 Filing for Churches

By Anonymous
Question:   A new church filed for an employer identification number (EIN) recently. It received notification from the IRS about the EIN, stating that the church must file Form 944 by the following January deadline. The church has no non-ministerial staff members. Since income tax withholding is elective by ministers and none of the pastors has elected to request non-mandatory withholding is the church required to file Form 944 annually? Also, a quarterly Form 941 (rather than an annual Form 944) is required of some employers. Which IRS form, if any, should be filed? Answer: According to IRS Section 1402(c) and 3121(c), ministers are not subject to mandatory income tax withholding. Unless one or more ministerial employees request non-mandatory withholding, church employers with only ministerial employees do not need to file Form 941 or Form 944.  The IRS  Ministers Audit Technique Guide  explains in further detail a minister's treatments for social security, Medicare tax, Fed
Post a Comment
Read more