Our church has a few chairs

Housing allowance is not shown on the 1099-MISC; however, a separate letter will include the housing allowance information.) If you are receiving deferred compensation income, it is reported on a Form W-2. While the W-2 does not show housing allowance, it is deducted from the gross income reported.

If you are a minister of a church, your earnings for the services you perform in your capacity as a minister are subject to self-employment tax unless you have requested and received an exemption. (We'll cover the exemption process next.) This includes any salary that is paid to you as an employee of the church (even though reported on Form W-2, the church does not withhold Social Security or Medicare taxes), as well as offerings and fees such as those for performing marriages, funerals and baptisms.

To be treated as a minister, you must be duly ordained, commissioned or licensed by a church or church denomination and have the authority to conduct religious worship, perform sacerdotal functions and administer ordinances or sacraments. The same goes if you are a Christian Science practitioner or reader. Your earnings from services you performed are generally subject to self-employment tax, with one significant exception we'll discuss next.

Exemption for the self-employment tax for certain ministers

If you are conscientiously opposed to public insurance because of individual religious considerations, or you are opposed because of the principles of the religious denomination you belong to, you can claim an exemption from the self-employment tax by filing Form 4361 with the IRS. If the exemption is granted, you do not pay Social Security or Medicare taxes on your earnings. Of course, neither do you get credit toward Social Security or Medicare benefits in retirement. You must file Form 4361 by the due date of your tax return for the second tax year in which you earned at least $400 of self-employment earnings as a minister.

Once you claim the exemption, you cannot revoke the election. Although the income you earn is not subject to self-employment tax if the election is granted, you can use the income as the basis for contributions to a qualified retirement plan, such as a Keogh plan or individual 401(k).