Clergy Housing Allowance and FAFSA
Clergy housing allowance counts as income for FAFSA purposes. According to IRS guidelines, while the housing allowance is excludable from gross income for income tax purposes, it is not excludable for self-employment tax purposes. This means that the housing allowance must be included for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which considers both…
Can the board declare a housing allowance without a specific amount?
When your board declares your annual clergy housing allowance, they must declare a specific dollar amount or percent as the housing allowance. The designation must be made in advance of the payment. A general declaration that you have a housing allowance without naming a specific amount would be insufficient. Designating a housing allowance without specifying…
What type of expenses qualify for clergy housing allowance
The clergy housing allowance, as outlined in Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code, allows ministers to exclude from gross income the rental value of a home furnished to them as part of their compensation or a rental allowance paid to them as part of their compensation, to the extent that it is used to…
Can all church employees qualify for housing allowance?
Q. Can all church employees qualify for housing allowance? A. 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 a housing allowance. These rules state that the…
Clergy Housing Allowance
Clergy Housing Allowance Ministers who own their home can not only take advantage of the housing allowance by including mortgage payments as housing expenses but also can deduct mortgage interest and property taxes on their itemized deductions. This is often referred to as a “double deduction. Once ministers pay off their mortgages, however, they can…
Limitations on the Housing Allowance
Limitations on the Housing Allowance After reading about the Housing or Parsonage / Manse Allowance, you may be thinking, “if I designate my entire salary as a Housing Allowance, would it all be excluded from federal income taxes?” IRS has already addressed this by limiting the Allowance to the least of the following: 1. The…
Mid-Year – Housing Allowance Review
Mid-Year Review of Housing Allowance Designations Perhaps the most beneficial tax benefit available to a minister is the clergy housing allowance, which allows a minister to exclude permissible housing expenses from taxable income. Now that that the current year is more than half over, it is a good time for churches and their ministers to…
Can I deduct the mortgage for a home that is being constructed? Does it qualify for the housing allowance?
The IRS allows for taxpayers to deduct all of the interest they pay on a construction loan within the 24 months before the home is completed. (See Publication 936 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p936) There are some rules in order to qualify for the mortgage interest deduction: You can treat a home under construction as a qualified home for…
FAQ: Can I use nursing home expenses for the housing allowance? Can I deduct them anywhere else?
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 and medical care are not eligible for the housing allowance….
The Parsonage Allowance
IRC § 107 provides an exclusion from gross income for a “parsonage allowance,” housing specifically provided as part of the compensation for the services performed as a minister of the gospel. This includes the rental value of a home furnished to him or her as part of compensation or a housing allowance, to the extent…
