Are ministers considered employees or self-employed?
A minister has dual status under the law. The IRS has one set of criteria, and the Social Security Administration has another. The IRS considers the minister an employee for income tax purposes, and the IRS is the agency that receives the quarterly 941 and annual W-2s from the employer. However, clergy are exempt from withholding, which means you do not withhold any federal or state income taxes unless you have a written request and agreement from the clergy to do so. Generally, they will prepay their federal income taxes by means of the quarterly estimated tax procedure.
