First, a point of clarification. You can't claim anything as a housing allowance. The church must designate part of your salary in advance and in writing as a housing allowance.
Second, as a common law employee, you should receive a W-2 for your wages, even though you are exempt from withholding of income and employment taxes. Your salary (not including a housing allowance) would be in box 1, and boxes 2-6 would be blank.
Third, even if the $6000 of cash wages was properly designated as a housing allowance, it is not tax-free unless your qualified housing expenses are equal or more than $6000. If audited, you need to be able to prove this with reliable written records. If you already live in a parsonage and the church pays the utilities, what are your other eligible housing expenses that are equal or more than $6000?
So we have two possibilities.
A. You have a W-2 showing $6000 of taxable wages in box 1. That is taxable and NOT excludable as a housing allowance. After entering the W-2, there is a page of "special circumstances." Check the box for "religious wages." Answer that you need to pay SE tax on "both" your wages and housing. Enter $15,000 as the value of your housing, and $15,000 as the actual expenses.
In this case, you can ask the church to designate your salary as a housing allowance going forward, but since it can only be done in advance, your 2025 W-2 would still show $2000 of wage ($500 per month x 4 months, assuming the designation takes effect May 1).
B. The church did properly designate your wages as a housing allowance. Since you have no wages that are not excluded, the church does not/should not/can not issue a W-2. To report your clergy housing allowance as subject to self-employment tax, you have to use Turbotax Home&Business or Premium Online to report self-employment income. Create a schedule C business. For the job code, enter 813000. This is the code for religious employment and will trigger the question about your housing. You would enter the housing allowance as $21,000 (parsonage plus utilities plus cash housing allowance) and you would enter your qualified expenses up to but not exceeding $21,000.
You would not have any other income or expenses to report, the only reason you need the schedule C is to trigger the religious wage question so your housing is entered on schedule SE for SE tax.
See here also,
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/how-do-i-enter-minister-s-housing-allowance/00/26...
