Clergy Act

Clergy can end exemption and pay into Social Security

If enacted, ordained, commissioned, or licensed ministers, members of religious orders, and Christian Science practitioners with a 1402(e)(1) exemption in the enactment year would be able to revoke it and pay into Social Security. You would need to file by the due date (with extensions) of your federal return for your second tax year that starts after December 31, 2028. You could choose it to start in your first or second tax year that starts after December 31, 2028, and it would then apply to all later years. If you file after the return due date but make it effective for that year, you would have to include full self-employment tax for that year with the application. After you revoke, you could not claim the clergy exemption again; earnings after it starts would count for Social Security benefits and lump-sum death payments for months in or after that year. The IRS, with Social Security, would have 90 days after enactment to submit a plan to inform eligible clergy about this option.