Ezel / IRS Rulings / 200914057

CCA 200914057: Church-paid minister compensation belonged on Form W-2 but was subject to SECA

Number
200914057
Outcome
Advice
Document type
Chief Counsel Advice
IRS subject
Ministers, Members of Religious Orders, Christian Science Practitioners (Election)
Topics
Other topics
Code sections
§ 1402, § 3121, § 3401
Ruling dated
March 19, 2009
Publicly released
April 3, 2009
Source
View Official PDF

Apply this to your situation

This page covers legal advice the IRS Office of Chief Counsel wrote for IRS staff, issued in 2009, which can't be cited as precedent. Ask about your situation and see what the current Code and IRS guidance say, with citations.

Currency note: this determination was released in 2009
Statutory amendments, regulation changes, court decisions, or later IRS guidance may have changed the analysis since then. Treat this page as historical context, not current tax advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, threshold, or position mentioned here.
Not precedent. Under 26 U.S.C. § 6110(k)(3), this written determination may not be used or cited as precedent. It is advice from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel to IRS personnel on the facts they presented, and identifying details were redacted by the IRS before release. The official IRS release (linked on this page as a PDF) is the authoritative source.
About this page: The plain-English summary and ruling snapshot below were written by Ezel based on the official IRS release. The full text is the IRS's own document.
View official IRS release (PDF)

Plain-English summary

Chief Counsel considered employment-tax treatment of payments made through a church to a minister. It advised treating the payments as additional church compensation reportable on Form W-2. Although ministers generally are common-law employees, the special rules make them self-employed for these earnings and subject to SECA rather than FICA. The advice also concluded that neither FICA nor income tax withholding was owed on the payments.

Ruling snapshot

  • Question: How should payments made through a church to a minister be reported and taxed?
  • Outcome: Advice given: report the additional compensation on Form W-2, apply SECA rather than FICA, and impose no income tax withholding.
  • Key authorities: IRC §§ 1402(c), 3121, and 3401.

Full text (IRS public release)

ID: CCA_2009031917212341 Number: 200914057
Release Date: 4/3/2009
Office: -----------------------------
UILC: 1402.05-00

From: ---------------
Sent: Thursday, March 19, 2009 5:21:25 PM
To: -------------------------
Cc:
Subject: RE: Employment Tax Question

If the payments are made through the church, I believe it is properly viewed as additional compensation
from the church that should be reported on the W-2. However, ministers self-employed and subject to
SECA, rather than FICA, with no ITW. Even though they are generally common law employees, special
rules in 1402(c), 3121 and 3401 provide for this result, so no FICA or ITW would be owing.

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