@Msrain28 wrote:
I would also like the answer to that question
Nothing has changed regarding federal tax law. I am not an expert on California state tax law. With respect to federal tax law, the information on whether a person is a contractor or employee can be found here.
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/independent-contractor-self-employed-o...
With respect to pastors, under federal law a pastor is not a contractor if the pastor is under the supervision of the church (via a board of elders, deacons, administrative council, staff-parish committee, and so on.) If the church can determine how many vacation days the pastor gets, sets the number of services per week and the hours (1 service at 10am, two services at 9am and 10:30, and so on) or directs the activities of the pastor in other ways, then the pastor is a common-law employee and should get a W-2, even though they are considered self-employed for limited tax purposes related to withholding and social security tax.
The relationship between the church and other staff (cleaners, secretary, choir leader, Sunday school teachers, etc) really hasn't changed. California's AB5 doesn't really apply, as the old rules were more than enough. In most cases, church staff will be employees unless they have a great deal of independence in how they do their work.
