Get IRS Publication 517 2016

If you are a minister performing ministerial services, all of your earnings, including wages, offerings, and fees you receive for performing marriages, baptisms, funerals, etc., are subject to income tax, whether you earn the amount as an employee or self-employed person.

How to File Your Taxes If You Are a Missionary. Even missionaries living out of the country all year must file taxes. Even if you live out of the country seeking converts, as long as you remain a citizen of the United States you must file your taxes.

According to IRS Publication 526, Generally, you can claim a charitable contribution deduction for travel expenses necessarily incurred while you are away from home performing services for a charitable organization only if there is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in the travel.

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to promote their faith or perform ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.

And, employers contribute the employer portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes. However, a statutory employee is technically an independent contractor who works for themselves.

Gifts (or donations in your case) are neither deductible for the donor nor taxable to the recipient. Gifts received are not reported on your federal tax return, regardless of the amount received.

In general, a contribution is deductible only if it is made to or for the use of a charitable organization, not a designated individual. IRC §170(a). Direct contributions to missionaries, or any other individual, are not tax deductible, even if they are used for religious or charitable purposes.

If you are a minister performing ministerial services, all of your earnings, including wages, offerings, and fees you receive for performing marriages, baptisms, funerals, etc., are subject to income tax, whether you earn the amount as an employee or self-employed person.

Gifts that the donor requires to be used for a specific individual or family will not be tax deductible. ... To give benevolence funds to an employee without having to show it as taxable income on their W-2, you need to have a formal hardship assistance plan in place before the assistance is given.

Scholarship donations of this sort are almost always tax deductible. The donor receives an immediate income tax deduction of up to 30% of their adjusted gross income (AGI) and excess deduction can be carried forward up to five years.

"For social security and Medicare tax purposes, regardless of your status under the common law, the services you perform in the exercise of your ministry are considered self-employment earnings and are generally subject to self-employment tax."

We are missionaries. ... Even though you are not affiliated with a specific church and are not recognized as employees or contractors of a specific church, being a "missionary" you are considered as clergy by the IRS.

According to IRS guidelines, a pastor is considered self-employed if a church does not have control over the pastor's employment status or activities. When a pastor is given a housing allowance or provided a parsonage, the IRS does not require this compensation to be reported as taxable income.

Missionary Wages The amount you can expect to earn really depends on the organization funding the mission. ... With Change Volunteers, the pay is anywhere from $35,000 to $50,000 for a mission in Africa.

Regardless of whether you're a minister performing ministerial services as an employee or a self-employed person, all of your earnings, including wages, offerings, and fees you receive for performing marriages, baptisms, funerals, etc., are subject to income tax.