# Payroll for churches: Clergy Payroll Tax Rules

> The Clergy Payroll Tax Rules carries 5 published figures read from 6 sources' own pages, from 0.90 to 15.30 percent, read 18 October 2026.

Sacristo · https://sacristo.com/datasets/clergy-payroll-tax-rules/ · computed 2026-10-19

**Range of the published figures:** 0.9 to 15.3 % (range 0.9 to 15.3 %; 5 sources with a figure; 6 of 15 sources read publish one).

6 of the 15 named sources read in full publish a figure; 9 publish none, read 18 October 2026.

## By rule

| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| rule social security wage base | 184,500 USD | 184,500 to 184,500 USD | 1 |
| rule OASDI self-employment rate | 12.4 % | 12.4 to 12.4 % | 1 |
| rule standard mileage rate | 70 cents | 70 to 70 cents | 1 |
| rule additional Medicare rate | 0.9 % | 0.9 to 0.9 % | 1 |
| rule Form 4029 notice | 60 day | 60 to 60 day | 1 |
| rule social security rate | 6.2 % | 6.2 to 6.2 % | 1 |
| rule Medicare rate | 1.45 % | 1.45 to 1.45 % | 1 |
| rule SECA rate | 15.3 % | 15.3 to 15.3 % | 1 |
| rule self-employment tax threshold | 400 USD | 400 to 400 USD | 1 |
| rule Form 1099 threshold | 600 USD | 600 to 600 USD | 1 |

## Every figure, with its source

One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read.

| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| [SSA contribution and benefit base](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html) | 184,500 USD | social security wage base | 2026-10-17 |
| [IRS Publication 1828, Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf) | 600 USD | Form 1099 threshold | 2026-10-18 |
| [IRS Instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040)](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sse) | 400 USD | self-employment tax threshold | 2026-10-17 |
| [IRS Publication 517 (HTML), Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p517) | 70 cents | standard mileage rate | 2026-10-17 |
| [IRS Publication 517 (HTML), Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p517) | 60 day | Form 4029 notice | 2026-10-17 |
| [IRS self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes)](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes) | 15.3 % | SECA rate | 2026-10-17 |
| [SSA contribution and benefit base](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html) | 12.4 % | OASDI self-employment rate | 2026-10-17 |
| [IRS Publication 15-A (HTML), Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15a) | 6.2 % | social security rate | 2026-10-17 |
| [IRS Publication 15-A (HTML), Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15a) | 1.45 % | Medicare rate | 2026-10-17 |
| [IRS Publication 517 (HTML), Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p517) | 0.9 % | additional Medicare rate | 2026-10-17 |

## The sentence each figure was read from (10)

- [SSA contribution and benefit base](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html), read 2026-10-17: "The OASDI tax rate for wages paid in 2026 is set by statute at 6.2 percent for employees and employers, each. Thus, an individual with wages equal to or larger than $184,500 would contribute $11,439.00 to the OASDI program in 2026, and his or her employer would contribute the same amount."
- [IRS Publication 1828, Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf), read 2026-10-18: "unincorporated individual or an entity $600 or more in any calendar year for"
- [IRS Instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040)](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sse), read 2026-10-17: "However, if you had other earnings of $400 or more subject to SE tax, enter “Exempt—Notary” and the amount of your net profit as a notary public from Schedule C on the dotted line to the left of Schedule SE, line 3."
- [IRS Publication 517 (HTML), Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p517), read 2026-10-17: "The business standard mileage rate for 2025 is 70 cents per mile."
- [IRS Publication 517 (HTML), Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p517), read 2026-10-17: "You must notify the IRS within 60 days if you are no longer a member of the religious group, or if you no longer follow the established teachings of this group."
- [IRS self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes)](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes), read 2026-10-17: "The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%."
- [SSA contribution and benefit base](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html), read 2026-10-17: "The OASDI tax rate for self-employment income in 2026 is 12.4 percent."
- [IRS Publication 15-A (HTML), Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15a), read 2026-10-17: "The social security tax rate is 6.2% each for the employee and employer."
- [IRS Publication 15-A (HTML), Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15a), read 2026-10-17: "The Medicare tax rate is 1.45% each for the employee and employer, unchanged from 2025."
- [IRS Publication 517 (HTML), Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p517), read 2026-10-17: "In addition, all wages and self-employment income that are subject to Medicare tax are subject to a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax to the extent they exceed the applicable threshold for an individual's filing status."

## Read in full, publishes no figure

- [IRS About Publication 517](https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-517), read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [IRS: Members of the clergy](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/members-of-the-clergy), read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [SSA Social Security and Medicare tax rates](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/taxRates.html), read 2026-09-11: every candidate on the page was refused
- [IRS Topic 417, earnings for clergy](https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc417), read 2026-10-09: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [IRS About Form 4361](https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-4361), read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [eCFR 26 CFR 1.107-1, rental value of parsonages](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-1/section-1.107-1), read 2026-10-17: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [eCFR 26 CFR 1.1402(a)-11, ministers and members of religious orders](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-1/section-1.1402(a)-11), read 2026-10-17: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [IRS definition of church](https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/churches-religious-organizations/definition-of-church), read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [IRS minister's compensation and housing allowance FAQ](https://www.irs.gov/faqs/interest-dividends-other-types-of-income/ministers-compensation-housing-allowance), read 2026-10-17: read in full and no accepted figure on the page

## Methodology

Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 6 of the 15 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 9 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in % (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 5 figures, never sentences; 52 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per rule per year - dual status, the housing or parsonage allowance and its lesser-of limit, the FICA/SECA split, the SECA rate and wage base, the Form 4361 election and its deadline, the standard mileage rate - each quoted verbatim from the authority with the effective date, and the changed-since between years, which is the thing a church treasurer misses and which no single IRS page shows as a series

## Sources

- [IRS Publication 517 (HTML), Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p517) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [IRS About Publication 517](https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-517) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [IRS: Members of the clergy](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/members-of-the-clergy) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [IRS Publication 15-A (HTML), Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15a) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [IRS self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes)](https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [IRS Instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040)](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sse) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [SSA contribution and benefit base](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [SSA Social Security and Medicare tax rates](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/taxRates.html) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [IRS Topic 417, earnings for clergy](https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc417) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [IRS About Form 4361](https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-4361) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [eCFR 26 CFR 1.107-1, rental value of parsonages](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-1/section-1.107-1) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [eCFR 26 CFR 1.1402(a)-11, ministers and members of religious orders](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-1/section-1.1402(a)-11) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [IRS Publication 1828, Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [IRS definition of church](https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/churches-religious-organizations/definition-of-church) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [IRS minister's compensation and housing allowance FAQ](https://www.irs.gov/faqs/interest-dividends-other-types-of-income/ministers-compensation-housing-allowance) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)

## Cite or embed

- The Clergy Payroll Tax Rules carries 5 published figures read from 6 sources' own pages, from 0.90 to 15.30 percent, read 18 October 2026.
- 6 of the 15 named sources read in full publish a figure; 9 publish none, read 18 October 2026.
- Clergy Payroll Tax Rules, rule social security wage base: median 184,500 USD across 1 source, read 18 October 2026.
- Clergy Payroll Tax Rules, rule OASDI self-employment rate: median 12.40 percent across 1 source, read 18 October 2026.
- Clergy Payroll Tax Rules, rule standard mileage rate: median 70 cents across 1 source, read 18 October 2026.
- Clergy Payroll Tax Rules, rule additional Medicare rate: median 0.90 percent across 1 source, read 18 October 2026.
- Clergy Payroll Tax Rules, rule Form 4029 notice: median 60 day across 1 source, read 18 October 2026.
- Clergy Payroll Tax Rules, rule social security rate: median 6.20 percent across 1 source, read 18 October 2026.
- Clergy Payroll Tax Rules, rule Medicare rate: median 1.45 percent across 1 source, read 18 October 2026.
- Clergy Payroll Tax Rules, rule SECA rate: median 15.30 percent across 1 source, read 18 October 2026.
- Clergy Payroll Tax Rules, rule self-employment tax threshold: median 400 USD across 1 source, read 18 October 2026.
- Clergy Payroll Tax Rules, rule Form 1099 threshold: median 600 USD across 1 source, read 18 October 2026.

Cite as: "Sacristo Clergy Payroll Tax Rules", updated 2026-10-19, https://sacristo.com/datasets/clergy-payroll-tax-rules/.

CSV: https://sacristo.com/datasets/clergy-payroll-tax-rules.csv
JSON: https://sacristo.com/datasets/clergy-payroll-tax-rules.json
Embed (plain HTML, static link back): see https://sacristo.com/datasets/clergy-payroll-tax-rules/#median