H.R. 227
Clergy Act
Sponsor: Vince Fong
21 cosponsors
- Mike Kelly
- Mike Thompson
- Claudia Tenney
- Darin LaHood
- Juan Ciscomani
- Suzan K. DelBene
- Gregory F. Murphy
- Brian K. Fitzpatrick
- Rudy Yakym III
- Jimmy Panetta
- Thomas R. Suozzi
- Beth Van Duyne
- Julia Letlow
- Adrian Smith
- Ron Estes
- Jim Costa
- Mike Carey
- Nathaniel Moran
- Gus M. Bilirakis
- Danny K. Davis
- Lloyd Smucker
In plain English: what this bill does
Clergy members who had opted out of Social Security could choose to rejoin it. They would have to file an application with the IRS by the tax return deadline for their second tax year starting after December 31, 2028, and the change would take effect in a later tax year they select. If they file late, they must pay the full Social Security self-employment tax they would have owed for that year.
Who this affects
- Ministers, members of religious orders, and Christian Science practitioners who hold an exemption from Social Security coverage: they could revoke that exemption by filing the required application, and once revoked they could not apply for the exemption again.
- The Commissioner of Internal Revenue: must develop and submit a plan, within 90 days of enactment, to inform eligible clergy members of their right to revoke the exemption, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Security.
- The Committees on Ways and Means and on Finance: would receive that plan from the Commissioner of Internal Revenue.
Words to know
- Exemption: a release from having to pay a tax or join a program that others must join.
- Self-employment tax: the tax that self-employed people pay toward Social Security and Medicare, which employees split with their employers.
- Revoke: to cancel or take back a previous choice.
- Taxable year: the 12-month period that a person uses to report income for taxes.
For example
Made-up situation: A minister who opted out of Social Security years ago files the required application before the deadline and asks for the change to start in her first tax year beginning after December 31, 2028. From that year on, she would owe self-employment tax on her ministry income and would earn Social Security coverage for those years. She could not later go back to the exemption.
Written by AI from the bill's text below; it can be wrong. How it's written
Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Clergy Act
This act establishes a two-year window for members of the clergy who have opted out of Social Security and Medicare taxes (and are thus ineligible for benefits under those programs) to opt back in.
Under current law, certain ministers, members of religious orders, and Christian Science practitioners who object to participation in public insurance programs on religious or conscientious grounds may apply to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for an exemption from Social Security and Medicare taxes on ministerial earnings. Individuals who are approved for the exemption do not receive Social Security or Medicare benefits in retirement unless they have qualifying credits from other employment. The exemption is irrevocable.
Under the act, clergy members may choose to revoke their exemption by filing an application with the IRS by the due date of their federal income tax return for the second taxable year after December 31, 2028 (i.e., April 15, 2031, unless an individual obtains an extension to file their taxes). A clergy member may choose for the revocation to take effect in taxable year 2029 or taxable year 2030. A revocation under the act is permanent.
Clergy members who opt back in will generally need 10 years of covered employment (40 credits) to be eligible for Social Security and Medicare benefits, as is currently required for these programs.
The IRS must develop a plan to inform clergy members of their eligibility to revoke prior exemptions, pursuant to the act's changes.