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All ministers submit their certificate of ordination, commissioning or licensing to Reliant for approval by the Employment Services Department, and if necessary, the Director of Organizational Affairs and Treasurer. Once it is approved, the minister may then request a portion of their salary be designated as parsonage by submitting a Parsonage Request Form to Employment Services. For more information, see Working with Reliant as a Commissioned or Ordained Minister |
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- Actual housing expenses - The IRS may require receipts as verification of actual housing expenses in a personal tax audit.
- Fair Rental Value - If you own your residence, you must also submit further verification that your housing parsonage allowance is reasonable based on your home's market valueFair Rental Value (FRV).
- The amount designated by the organization - Reliant will not allow parsonage allowances that are greater than the minister's net pay after any pre-tax deductions and taxes. Pre-tax deductions include items such as shortcheckshort-check, HSA and 401(k) Contributions, and other benefit costs. Reliant will also not allow parsonage allowances that are greater than the FRV of your residence (if you own it).
Please use the form Form below to calculate and request a parsonage allowance based on the above restrictions. Parsonage amounts are reviewed and approved Reliant's Director of Organizational Affairs and Treasurer, and shall continue at that amount until a new parsonage request Parsonage Request Form is submitted and approved. Should the minister's actual housing expenses change during an interim period, the minister may request that Reliant designate a new amount that more accurately reflects the minister's actual housing expenses. Requests for re-designation of parsonage allowance must also be made using Parsonage Request Form.
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It is the minister who must determine whether to claim an exclusion from taxable income on his or her annual tax return for a parsonage allowance, and therefore bears ultimate legal responsibility for that decision. Reliant ministers who believe that they may be eligible for the parsonage allowance and wish to request that Reliant designate a portion of their annual compensation as a parsonage allowance must submit a Parsonage Request Form to the Employment Services Department. Ministers should are strongly advised to consult with a personal tax advisor before claiming the parsonage allowance exclusion.
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- The minister should keep records and receipts of allowable housing expenses they incur throughout the year.
- The minister should track how much parsonage allowance they have received compared to the actual allowable housing expenses they have incurred.
- The minister should update their Parsonage request form Request Form to increase or decrease the amount of parsonage they're receiving when their year-to-date allowable housing costs are significantly different than the parsonage amount they have been receiving.
- When filing their taxes, any excess parsonage allowance paid to the employee, should be shown as income on Form 1040 (see the Zondervan Minister's Tax Guide for additional details of this process).
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