Nonprofit Resources
Tax Considerations for Members of Religious Orders
Situation: Pat Brown and Chris Green are members of a religious order and have taken vows of poverty. They renounce all claims to their earnings. The earnings belong to the order. Pat is a licensed attorney. The superiors of the order instructed her to get a job with a law firm. Pat joined a law firm as an employee and, as she requested, the firm made the salary payments directly to the order. Chris is a secretary. The superiors of the order instructed him to accept a job with the business office of the church that supervises the order. Chris took the job and gave all his earnings to the order. Pat’s services are not duties required by the order. Her earnings are subject to Social Security and Medicare tax under FICA and to federal income tax. Chris’ services are duties required by the order. He is acting as an agent of the order and not as an employee of a third party. He does not include the earnings in gross income, and they are not subject to income tax withholding or to Social Security and Medicare tax under FICA or SECA.
From IRS Publication 517:
Members of Religious Orders
Services you perform as a member of a religious order in the exercise of duties required by the order are ministerial services. The services are considered ministerial because you perform them as an agent of the order. For example, if the order directs you to perform services for another agency of the supervising church or an associated institution, you are considered to perform the services as an agent of the order. However, if the order directs you to work outside the order, this employment will not be considered a duty required by the order unless:
- Your services are the kind that are ordinarily performed by members of the order, and
- Your services are part of the duties that must be exercised for, or on behalf of, the religious order as its agent.
Effect of employee status. Ordinarily, if your services are not considered directed or required of you by the order, you and the outside party for whom you work are considered employee and employer. In this case, your earnings from the services are taxed under the rules that apply to employees in general, not under the rules for services provided as agent for the order. This result is true even if you have taken a vow of poverty.