Housing Allowance

Question: Can all church employees qualify for housing allowance? Answer:   No. Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code allows only a “minister of the gospel” to have a housing allowance. Thus, only taxpayers who are serving as clergy under IRS rules for tax purposes are eligible for...

There are no standard amounts for housing allowance as a whole. The IRS guidelines say to use the fair market rental value of your housing and housing expenses (i.e., gas, electric, cable, etc.). There are housing allowance worksheets to help pastors figure out the...

Question: Can all church employees qualify for housing allowance? Answer: No. Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code allows only a “minister of the gospel” to have a housing allowance. Thus, only taxpayers who are serving as clergy under IRS rules for tax purposes are eligible for...

If you are new to Ministry, it’s possible that you’ve never heard of self-employment taxes before, much less paid them. One common mistake for new Ministers is filing the 1040 without taking self-employment taxes into account, which can result in a big bill later when...

For clergy who are living permanently in a nursing home, they can use some (but not all) of their nursing home expenses for the housing allowance. For example, the rental cost of their room and the utilities are eligible for the housing allowance. The food...

Can you modify housing allowance mid-year? The Housing Allowance can be amended (changed) as often as needed.  We always recommend overestimating when designating a housing allowance.  The goal would be to have enough of a buffer in the designation to end up with unused housing...